Love Hina: Flight of the Hornet: The Aftermath
by Doctor-T
Summary: This story takes place immediately after the events of 'Love Hina: Flight of the Hornet'. After Seta's surprise revelation to Naru, it's all on! So just who do Keitaro, Naru, Kanako and Mutsumi end up with, after all? Warning: contains Yuri.
1. Chapter 1

_Heyo._

_As promised, this is the first chapter of a five-chapter, follow-on story that takes place immediately after the final chapter of '**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET'.**_

_WARNING: 'M-rated' for several reasons! _

_I don't own blah, blah, Love Hina, blah-blah-blah, Ken Akamatsu, blah, blah._

_All right, carry on._

-:-:-:-:-:-

**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET – THE AFTERMATH  
><strong>_**CHAPTER ONE**_

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

For the next couple of days after her second thrashing - well, humiliating spanking, to be exact - at the hands of the merciless and vengeful Goth girl, Naru had been on her absolutely best behavior. The abashed and not a little frightened girl had wisely taken Kanako's warning to heart this time. Especially since she knew that there was now absolutely no chance at all of either Aunt Haruka or Keitaro interceding on her behalf. Waking up every morning surrounded by the huge, heaped up, untidy pile of her possessions and furniture in the cramped and gloomy confines of the basement storage room, which was situated just across the corridor from the boiler room, had driven home to Naru in no uncertain terms that she was on the outer with all of the Urashima family now, not just Keitaro and Kanako.

Naru also knew all-too-well that if the grim Goth girl caught her trying to seduce Keitaro again, her previously experienced spanking would be merely an _entrée _to the punishment she would then receive. So the now exceedingly wary ex-wife had taken extreme care to do exactly as Kanako had ordered her to. From then on she scrupulously kept her distance from Keitaro when in his presence, only speaking to him (in the politest of terms) when spoken to first. And she also made damn sure that she never said anything to her ex that could in the slightest way be construed as either threatening him or trying to lure him back into renewing their abruptly and painfully terminated relationship.

Then, completely out of the blue, yet another bizarre twist of fate befell her, turning Naru's woeful situation completely on its head once again. On Tuesday afternoon, three days after her spanking, Noriyasu Seta had unexpectedly turned up at the Hinata Apartments on a flying visit. 'Flying' being the correct term here, too.

At the time of Seta's arrival, the despondent Naru was still in some physical discomfort because of the spanking she had received at the hands of Kanako on Saturday. Understandably, she was still finding it very hard to sit down because of her badly bruised bottom. In fact, she had been sleeping on her stomach for the last three nights. However, upon waking up from a fitful sleep this morning, Naru had discovered to her relief that she was in much less pain than she had been in on the previous three days.

After finding herself totally unable to relax in comfort after her lunch, Naru had only just wandered outside with the intention of walking into Hinata Hot Springs for a hopefully morale-boosting shopping expedition, when she received the fright of her life. Inexplicably plummeting down out of the sky with no warning whatsoever of its approach, Seta's van had come crashing down onto the cobblestones in front of the main doors to the lobby, nearly squashing the shocked young woman like a bug in the process. After somersaulting end-over-end twice, the vehicle's precipitatious flight finally came to a sudden and bone-crunching halt as the unlucky conveyance smashed into the huge rock to the left of the doorway, showering the gob smacked girl with a shower of broken glass from at least three exploding van windows as the shell of the unlucky van crumpled inwards under the brutal impact.

To Naru's astonishment, Seta came crawling out through the broken rear window, not only alive, but also – with the exception of the usual bleeding cut on his forehead - seemingly uninjured.

"_Seta!"_ Naru yelled out in concern, running towards her old mentor. _"Ohmygod!_ Are you – _um_ – all right? What happened?"

"Hmm? Oh, hi, Naru." The lanky professor grinned warmly at her as he staggered back to his feet, swaying unsteadily for a moment before reasserting his balance. "Yes, I'm fine. As to what happened, you'd never believe me." Then his eyes turned to the shattered wreck of his transportation.

"Oh, dear? It looks like I won't be eligible for this month's 'no-claims bonus' on my car insurance policy, yet again, will I?"

_What?_ The sweat-dropping, twin-antennaed honey brunette thought with disbelief._ Some insurance company is still willing to cover the van even though Seta is the one driving it? I guess that Keitaro isn't the biggest idiot around, after all?_

"Never mind about that!" Naru grabbed Seta's arm to steady both her ex-tutor and herself. "So – _ah_ – it's really good to see you again. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? Hey, if you're looking for Haruka, she's gone into Hinata Hot Springs for awhile."

"Me? What am I doing here - oh, that's right! I'll be seeing my wife down at the Tea Rooms a little later on, but at the moment I just stopped by for a quick chat with Keitaro. He wouldn't be anywhere around right now, would he?"

Upon hearing from the still pale young woman that Haruka and Mutsumi had taken Keitaro to the Hinata Hospital for an anti-toxin shot after he had accidentally being stung by a hornet last Saturday, and then suffered a delayed adverse reaction to its venom, the chuckling archaeologist then asked Naru if she had time right now to have a quick chat with him, in place of her ex.

"Ah, yes, I guess so," Naru hesitantly replied, wondering what this was all about. "What did you want to talk to him about?"

"Good. Ah, hold on a sec, Naru…" Seta rummaged through the pockets of his coat, and then pulled out a slip of paper, which he offered to her.

"Here. You'd best have this for safe keeping, first."

Ignoring the trickle of blood that was still running down from Seta's forehead and across his left eye, Naru's disbelieving gaze was now firmly riveted on the receipt that the smiling tutor was holding out to her in his outstretched right hand. She had, of course, recognized the slip of paper straight away for what it was.

_But that – that's…!_

"_Holy Shit!"_

Grabbing the receipt that Seta had received for lodging her and Keitaro's Registration of Marriage Form from out of his hand, the dumfounded Naru read and then re-read what it said, before staring incredulously up at him, her mouth wide open with astonishment.

"You found our _Kon-in-Todoki_ marriage form, Seta?" Naru finally gasped out, once her stunned mind had finally accepted that she wasn't in fact hallucinating the whole thing. "And you took in to the Hinata City municipal government office for us, as well? When - when did you do that?"

"Oh, in answer to all three of your questions, yep, yes, and on last Saturday morning, Naru," the cheery archeologist informed her. "Just after breakfast, I was cleaning out all of the boxes and files in the back of my van, and I happened to notice your Registration of Marriage form laying under a pile of unpaid traffic tickets. So I figured that I'd best file it for you straight away – especially since that Saturday was the very last day it was still valid for! And, _aheh, heh_, pay off my traffic tickets at the same time. I did try to deliver your receipt for the wedding form to you just after I had lodged it, but I had an accident caused by a big bug on the way here and lost the original one. That receipt you're holding is a stamped copy of the original, but don't worry, it's still legit."

"I…I see?" Naru murmured, still trying to get her head around what having her hands on this receipt would mean to her currently miserable life. "But-but it's been three whole months since Keitaro and I got married! How come our _Kon-in-Todoki_ marriage form was still legit after all of that elapsed time? Shouldn't our permit have expired after the three months had passed?"

"Yes, it was, and no, it hadn't expired at all," the professor told her, scratching sheepishly at the back of his tousled head." I don't know how it happened, either, but somehow your Registration of Marriage form was post-dated by one whole month ahead of your real marriage date. Because of this, the form _was_ still valid when I took it in on Saturday."

"What? Is – is that so? But…that means my wedding to Keitaro _was_ a legally binding one, after all," Naru stammered back, her mind now in utter turmoil at this new and shocking turn of events. "So Keitaro and I really _are_ legally married right now…!"

"You got it. Congratulations, Naru," Seta beamed, offering her his right hand for a congratulatory shake. "So now you and the part-timer can continue on living together in happily married bliss, without a care in the world as per usual, okay? Ha, ha, ha!"

"_Ah – y-yes_. Th-thank you very much, Seta," the-once-again-a-wife joyously exclaimed, a huge grin now transforming Naru's face as it finally dawned upon her just what this unbelievable happenstance now meant for her future prospects and happiness. Quickly the wildly excited brunette seized his proffered hand and shook it vigorously. "You don't know the half of it, Seta! Thank you_ sooo much!"_

"My pleasure, Naru. Glad that I could be of service to you both. Now if you don't mind, I'd best arrange a tow truck to get the van back to the panel beating shop. Luckily, they keep a large stock of spare parts for my van there, so it shouldn't be too long before they have the old girl up and running again, eh?"

"Ah, yeah, okay," Naru hurriedly agreed, bowing like a yo-yo to her old teacher. "And thank you again! You've just made my day – no, _week!"_

"_Ha, ha, ha!_ Like I said, I'm glad that I could help. Oh, and one other thing. Don't forget that you and Keitaro still have to personally go into the municipal office to pick up and pay for your 'Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Marriage'. They wouldn't give that to me to bring to you."

"Don't worry, Seta. There's _no-way in heck_ that I'm gonna forget to do that," the beaming Naru loudly assured him. "That '_Kon-in Todoke Juri Shomeisho'_ is mine!"

"Good! Now, I'm sure that you and the part-timer have got some celebrating to do, so I'll see you around."

"You bet we do! _Bye!"_

-:-:-:-:-:-

_Fuuuuuck!_ Kanako screamed silently to herself, clutching at her hair with talon-like fingers as she turned away from the second story common room window, which overlooked the plaza below. Having heard the shattering series of crashes as Seta's van had impacted onto the cobblestones directly outside the front entrance to the lobby, the Goth girl had instinctively rushed to the open window to see what had just happened, and consequently had been an accidental witness to everything that had just transpired outside.

Including the part where the miraculously seemingly-uninjured Seta had told the flabbergasted Naru that her marriage to Keitaro was once again valid.

And it would be a definite understatement to say that the horrified Goth girl had not liked what she had just overheard one bit. _Not one bit at all._

"_God-dammit!_ If _Oniichan_ and Naru really _are_ legally married, then what's he going to do when he finds out that he's still hitched to that witch? Will he actually be stupid enough to go back to her," the appalled Kanako asked herself in a tone of extreme frustration, as she agitatedly paced back and forth across the common room floor. "And where in the hell does that leave Turtle Idiot Mutsumi, now that _Oniichan_ claims that he has finally found real and lasting happiness with her? So much for my plan to get Narusegawa permanently out of our lives – and especially his!"

_Okay, think, Kanako, think! There's got to be some way for you to turn this around – short of arranging an 'accident' to get rid of her before she can tell _Oniichan_, or any of the others here? Not that I won't do just that if it really becomes necessary, of course. But that would have to be 'Plan C', or 'D' and things haven't become quite that desperate yet…_

…_All right! I'd say it's now definitely time for 'Plan B'. And I'm gonna do it right now!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

In total contrast to Kanako's angst, Naru, now with real, legal proof that she was indeed an Urashima after all, was in a much more satisfied frame of mind. As she ran back inside the lobby of the huge three-story building, her jumbled thoughts alternated between gleeful satisfaction at still being married to Keitaro, a lingering sense of disbelief at the improbability of what had just happened with Seta, relief at no longer having to fear Kanako and her threats, and plotting revenge on those who had turned their backs on her and betrayed her – especially her false friend, big-tits Mutsumi, the husband stealing turtle slut.

_So that forgetful little bastard, Keitaro, left our marriage papers in Seta's van – no! Why am I thinking that way? I'm overjoyed that he and I really _are_ married after all! I forgive him for everything!_

Naru clenched her fists with triumph._ Yess! This is my big chance to get him back – and since I'm still a part of the Urashima family whether she likes it or not, that witch of a sister of his, Kanako, can't do a damned thing about it when I do take Keitaro back! And neither can that huge knockered airhead, Mutsumi! She has to give him back to me now whether she likes it or not! Yaaay!_

All of these thoughts and more distracted Naru's mind as she rushed through the lobby and then up the stairs towards the second story of the Hinata Apartments, to where the landlord's room was situated. Her intention was to go straight into Room 204 and then wait for dear Keitaro there until he and Haruka had returned from Hinata Hospital. Then she would immediately show them the receipt from Seta, and inform Keitaro of the news that they were still legally husband and wife.

Once that vitally important fact became public knowledge, with regards to Keitaro's family, Naru was sure that things would go at least tolerably well for her from then on. Kanako and Haruka might not like it, but she would be an important part of their extended family once again. So the Goth girl in particular wouldn't be able to take any further action to keep her away from Keitaro. Hopefully, Haruka at least would one day warm to her again, especially since she intended to be on her very best behavior towards everyone in the Urashima clan from then on – with the possible exception of Mutsumi, of course. That backstabbing man-stealer could go fry, for all Naru cared.

With regards to her husband, having known of Keitaro's strong sense of duty and loyalty for years, Naru was absolutely sure that he would do the right and honorable thing by her and send Mutsumi away, even if it broke his heart to do so. Once Mutsumi was safely out of the way, Naru swore to herself that she would do her very best to be a better wife to Keitaro, treat him more kindly, and try to overlook any further minor transgressions on his part…

…_And I'll even take Keitaro to bed with me, and let him have me too,_ _like I was planning on doing before,_ the excited Naru resolutely vowed as she reached her destination, deliberately ignoring the fact that if she did do that, it would be the very first time she had ever had sex with him, including on their wedding night and honeymoon. Grasping the door handle, she slid the door open and began to step into the achingly familiar room that until only a few weeks ago she had shared with her then despised, but now greatly desired husband. _Well, for the first few nights, anyway_, she decided. _I'll treat him to such an experience that he'll forget all about Mutsumi and never want to leave me again-!_

WHAP!

The totally unsuspecting Naru walked directly into a vicious palm strike from the waiting Kanako, which caught her directly under her chin. Naru's head snapped backwards under the brutal impact, her feet left the floor and she crashed down back first onto the hard wooden floorboards. For a split-second stars danced through the haze of pain in her mind, and then she was out for the count.

-:-:-:-:-:-

At about the same time as Seta was crash landing on the plaza outside the lobby of the Hinata Apartments, in the waiting room of the Hinata Hospital, Aunt Haruka and Mutsumi were anxiously awaiting news on how Keitaro was faring. The pair had real concern for his welfare on their faces because they both knew from first-hand experience just how dangerous allergic reactions to insect venom could be. Resisting the urge to light up a cigarette to help calm her nerves, Haruka was just about to give in to temptation and take a stroll outside to do just that, when the door to the examination room opened, and in walked the familiar figure of Doctor Toshio Chinen-sensei, the doctor whom had just been treating Keitaro for his hornet sting.

The medical specialist in question was already well known to Haruka and Mutsumi for a very good reason. He was actually a distant relative of not only the Urashima family, but also of the Otohime family, as well. And he had been the physician to several generations of members of their extended clan, including Keitaro, Kanako, Mutsumi and Haruka - _and_ their parents, as well - back when they were all but children.

Upon Doctor Chinen's reappearance, Haruka was the first one back onto her feet, beating Mutsumi by a split second.

"So how is my nephew, Toshio-sensei," she inquired, an undercurrent of anxiety in her tone. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Yes, he is, Haruka-san," came the hoped-for and most comforting reply from the elderly physician. "But it was very lucky for all concerned that you got him here when you did, because he was going into Anaphylactic shock at the time of your arrival here."

The doctor then consulted his clipboard, and frowned as he read just when the incident had originally occurred. "You say that Kei-kun - Mr. Urashima - was stung by a _suzumebachi_ last Saturday afternoon?"

"Yes, sir," Mutsumi spoke up. "I was with him when it happened."

"Hmm," the doctor mused, a surprised look on his face. "That's an extremely long period of time between being stung and suffering a reaction to it. Most unusual. Anyway, to counter Mr. Urashima's anaphylactic reaction to the hornet venom, I have just given him a 500-microgram shot of Epinephrine, intramuscularly, which means it went directly into his right side buttock via an injection."

"So that was the cause of the squawk I head just before?" Haruka dryly remaked. "_Heh!_ Kei-kun never liked needles much."

"So I just heard," Doctor Chinen agreed, rubbing ruefully at his still-ringing ears. "And young Keitaro-san still hasn't changed in that regard since he was a kid, I see? Maybe I should find a pair of earmuffs, because we may have to repeat the dose at five minute intervals if necessary. But that will depend on Keitaro-san's blood pressure, pulse and respiratory function. I'm sure he's going to be just fine, but bearing in mind what I said before, we'd like to keep your nephew in here for a few more hours yet, just to ensure that he won't be having any further complications from the sting."

"Fine," Haruka sighed out, looking much happier now that it looked like Keitaro really was going to be all right. Mutsumi, on the other hand, was so overjoyed at the good news that she began jumping up and down, clapping her hands with glee.

"Thank goodness!" She gasped out. "I was so worried about poor Kei-kun! Oh, thank you, Doctor Chinen-sama! Here, let me present you with these watermelons as a token of my gratitude!"

"Er, that's quite all right, Mutsumi-chan," the Doctor replied, eyeing up the twin hair-antennae bobbing behind what looked to be a small pyramid of green melons in her arms, quickly holding up the palms of his hands to refuse the gift. "I'm a doctor, after all, not a greengrocer…!"

_Just where in the hell was Mutsumi keeping those?_ Haruka wondered, staring goggle-eyed at the five large watermelons that the rapt turtle girl was now holding out to her sweat-dropping, distant relative doctor. _She didn't have them on her when we brought Kei-kun in just before…!_

"'_Ahem!'_ Anyway, I'd best be getting back to the Tea Rooms right now, Mutsumi," Haruka informed the happy Turtle lady. "They're a bit short handed with both you and I being suddenly called away like this. Tell you what, you can stay here with Kei-kun if you like, and I'll cover your shift for you until you both can make it back later on this afternoon."

"Thank you, Ms. Haruka," Mutsumi enthused. "That's really nice of you! And I can eat all of these watermelons while I'm waiting for him – unless you'd like to take one or two with you?"

"I'll pass. And don't mention it. Say, will you both be all right to take the trolley buses back to the apartments, once Kei-kun gets given the all clear to come home again? It might be a little difficult for me to find the time to come and pick you both up when the Tea Rooms start getting busy around three o'clock this afternoon."

"Yes, we'll be fine, thank you, Ms. Haruka," Mutsumi reassured her. "You've already driven us here in your car, so I don't like to impose on you any more than I already have. I'm sure we can make our own way back easily enough."

Haruka grinned. "That's quite all right, Mutsumi. Okay, I'll see you at the Tea Rooms a little later on, then. And thank you again, Toshio-sensei, for seeing Kei-kun so promptly."

"My pleasure, Haruka-san. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'd best get back and check on your nephew's condition again." He gave a bow, which Haruka and Mutsumi emulated. "Goodbye, ladies."

"Bye!"

"Thank you!"

As the doctor and Aunt Haruka disappeared out through the doorway, Mutsumi let out a happy sigh, and then sat down again on the waiting room sofa, placing her load of watermelons carefully down next to her on the seat.

A couple of seconds later, Mutsumi let out a giggle as a naughty thought crossed her mind.

_He he!_ _At least Kei-kun likes my melons. And even if I eat all of these ones now, I'm holding two in reserve for him later! Fu, fu, fu!_

A valid observation, and one that Keitaro, having already sampled their ample fullness before, would enthusiastically agree with.

-:-:-:-:-:-

_Author's Note:_

_But will Keitaro ever get the chance to do it again? Be sure to catch next week's exciting installment to _maybe_ find out!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi, y'all, and welcome to the latest instalment of this five-chapter series._

_WARNING: Yuri alert this chapter! So, keep your hands in plain view from now on._

_And no drooling on the keyboard, either._

_That means you!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET – THE AFTERMATH  
><strong>_**CHAPTER TWO**_

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blackness gave way to blurry slits of flickering light as Naru finally began to come back to full consciousness again. Blinking rapidly, the confused young woman instinctively shook her head to try to clear the cobwebs from her mind, then immediately winced with pain from not only her throbbing jaw, but also a sore spot on the back of her skull where it had impacted the floorboards.

_? What's…going on? Did I slip and have a fall…? Oww! My head…!_

Frowning with confusion as she tried to work out just what had happened to her, Naru tried to move her hands forwards to rub at her injuries. To her surprise, she then found that they were totally immobilized behind her back.

_I can't move my arms! Uhh – I can't move anything at all! What's happened to me?_

The sudden shock of this frightening discovery did wonders to clear her foggy mind. Naru's eyes snapped open, she raised up her head, and then a sudden chill of terror raced up her bare back as the full gravity of her situation abruptly became clear to her.

For she was laying on her stomach, totally naked, bound and helpless in the bondage harness, on the spread out futon in Kanako's room once again! And then out of the corner of her left eye, the terrified young woman saw-!

_OHMYGOD! Kanako's got me again! She's standing right behind me in that red dominatrix outfit of hers! But, what – what is she going to do to me this time…?_

"_Mmmmh?"_

_Oh, help! I'm gagged again, too! I can't even talk to her!_

"And a good afternoon to you, too, Narusegawa," the Goth girl greeted her prisoner, noticing that she had finally awoken. _"Not!"_

"_Mmmmmmh!"_ Naru's muffled voice wailed as she frantically jerked back and forth in her restraints, but to no avail.

"_Shhhh!_ Easy, Narusegawa. You can't get away, so there's no point in you struggling. Just relax and accept the fact that you're now mine, to do with as I wish."

As she realized the truth in Kanako's words, Naru's trembling intensified, and tears sprung from the corners of her fearful eyes.

"I suppose you're wondering why I've got you all trussed up on my futon in my room again," Kanako continued, her tone deceptively calm. "Well, it's because I've only just this afternoon become privy to some very distressing information about you and your marriage to my _Oniichan_ – well, distressing from my point of view, anyway. And his_._ And, truth to tell, the same applies to not just us and poor Mutsumi, but to damn near everyone else here who likes _Oniichan_, as well._"_

"It appears that you and my brother really are legally married, after all. Yes, I know all about Seta sticking his nose into our business, and filing those damned marriage papers at the municipal office in town. I overheard you both talking about it outside."

_Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Kanako found out about that before I could tell anyone else! D-don't tell me that she's going to…to dispose of me before I can tell Keitaro? Oh, god, no…?_

"I know just what you were planning on doing, Narusegawa," her captor went on, a touch of antagonism now at last appearing in her voice as she glared down at the sweating honey brunette at her feet. "You were going to wait in _Oniichan's_ room again and tell him as soon as he got back from the hospital. But even though I now have you just where I want you, I also know there's fuck-all that I can do to stop the bad news that he hasn't escaped you at all, from spreading. Since Seta's the one who lodged the papers, he's bound to blab to Auntie Haruka about having done it. So, sooner or later, my brother is going to find out that he _is_ still married to you, no matter what I try to do to keep that totally unpalatable fact from him."

_That – that's right? Seta _will _tell Haruka_, the bound girl realized, newfound hope suddenly shining from her huge, frightened eyes._ Even though Kanako has me, the news will still get out that Keitaro is still mine! Aha-! Ahahah! Kanako dare not get rid of me now, because if she does, then Haruka will easily work out what must have happened to me. I'm saved!_

"And once _Oniichan_ does know that your claws are still sunk into him, well, it'll be up to me to protect him from you again, won't it?" the Goth girl grimly continued, anger steadily increasing in her tone and her face darkening into a scowl at the horrible thought of the cycle of abuse targeting her beloved older brother starting up all over again. "And with regards to that, I believe in being prepared for every eventuality, no matter how unlikely the possibility of it ever occurring. I really don't think that there's a snowball's chance in hell of what I'm about to say actually happening, Narusegawa. But on the off chance that my _Oniichan_ really _is_ stupid enough to change his mind about giving you the boot for good, and leaves Turtle idiot Mutsumi to shack up with you once again-? Well, that's the reason why you're here with me, now. I'm going to take the time, right now, to make damn well sure you'll be treating him with the proper respect and deference that he deserves, this time around."

_Huh? What does Kanako mean by that? _Naru uneasily wondered, her bound body stiffening with well-justified alarm once again. _I already was planning on treating Keitaro better, but of course she wouldn't believe me, even if my mouth wasn't gagged and I could tell her that to her face! 'Gulp!' Oh, help-?_

"So, just to ensure that I'm making my point loud and clear to you…" the Goth girl finished, pulling loose and hefting the required object from its usual position on her _risqué_ red outfit.

_Oh, shit! What's she doing now-? No! Not the strap again? NOOO!_

"_Mmmmmmhh!"_

'_Whack!'_ went the hard-swung leather strap across the deliciously protruding curves of Naru's still sore butt-mounds as Kanako's punishment session commenced, the sudden stinging sensation causing them to jerk downwards and tighten in shock and pain. A muffled yelp of agony escaped through Naru's gag, bringing a momentary smile of satisfaction back to the lips of the vengeful Goth girl.

"Furthermore, if by some miracle _Oniichan_ really _is_ dumb enough to take you back, you psychotic tramp, I want to make one other point crystal clear to you. No more playing hard to get with him. Got that?"

'_Craaak!'_ went the leather strap, once again, right on target.

"_MMmmm! 'Sniff!' Mmm!"_

"You'd _better_ get it, Narusegawa, or like I told you before, you'll have _me_ to deal with," Kanako warned her trembling, cold sweat covered captive. "And this is just a taste of what you'll be getting, if there is a next time. I'm getting sick of having to repeat myself to you. But, just to make sure that you know exactly what I'm telling you so there'll be no misunderstandings, listen up, and listen good!" Kanako roughly seized Naru's hair, yanking her head backwards.

"Are you listening, Narusegawa?"

"_Mmmmm!"_

"Right! If you are goddamned lucky enough to get back with my brother, you're going to be a good and proper wife to him, whether you want to be, or not! That includes you stripping off and putting out when and as often as he needs to do it with you. I know that you haven't even consummated your marriage with him yet, you selfish prude – and that was over three whole months ago!"

_How did Kanako know that?_ The terrified captive wondered. _But – she's right. Keitaro and I haven't even had sex yet, not even once…!_

"So, if _Oniichan_ takes you back, when he asks you for sex, the word 'no' is no longer going to be a part of your vocabulary," Kanako ordered her. "Furthermore, at that time, accusing him of being a pervert as a flimsy excuse for punching him out is no longer an option, either! Do you understand, you self-centered cow?"

'_Craaak!' _went the strap across its well-bruised, ample target for the third time.

"_MMMM-Hmm! Hhmm!"_

"Yeah? Well, we'll see. Because, not only am I going to break you _permanently_ of those disgraceful violent tendencies of yours, I'm _also_ seriously considering personally giving you full training in how to service _Oniichan_ fully and properly in bed, as well," the Goth girl angrily added in a skeptical tone, hefting her most effective disciplinary tool once again. "Make no mistake, I'd much rather be satisfying him myself, but since he's already made it clear that he'll never love me as anything more than his little sister, I don't have much hope any more of giving him the love that I desperately want to and that he deserves in bed. I blame your interference when I first arrived back here for that, too. So _this_ is for fucking up my one-and-only chance of having a lifetime of happiness with him!"

'_Craaak!' 'Craaak!' 'Craaak!'_

"_MMMMMm!"_ Naru blubbered, tears flying from the corners of her eyes, her abused buttocks clenching tightly again in a futile attempt to lessen the pain from the multiple blows.

Then Kanako leant forward, her lips brushing gently against the spasm-wracked Naru's left-side ear. "And be warned, you cock-teasing bitch," she hissed. "If I hear of so much as even _one_ occasion when you refused to put out for _Oniichan_ with sex, or you are stupid enough to relapse back into your bad old ways and hit him again, for _any_ reason, you'll know what's coming to you! Won't you, Naru?"

"Mmmm! _Mmmm!"_ Naru instantly assured her grim new mistress, nodding her disheveled head vigorously, sending beads of both cold sweat and tears flying in all directions. After having already received several previous hidings at the Goth girl's hands, she understood all-too-well the consequences of disobeying Kanako's veiled threat to her.

A faint smile graced Kanako's face, and she stroked her trembling captive's long, silky hair. _"Good,_ Naru, _good_. You know what? I think that you're actually, finally getting the message not to mess with our family – _especially_ my brother."

"So, to recap, I don't give half a thimbleful of rat's piss what your needs, wants, desires or opinions are on this matter. They're totally irrelevant. If _Oniichan_ does take you back, your sole purpose in life will be to service him and support him in every way possible, in everything that he wants and in every conceivable situation."

"Let me give you an example. If my brother decides that he wants to spend time with Mutsumi – who I'm telling you right now, you _won't_ be sending away - or any other girl for that matter, in a social situation without you being there, you're to agree to his request straight away, without question, conditions or complaint. Example two, if my _Oniichan_ desires a four-course breakfast at three in the morning, on the rooftop while listening to a brass band, you'll make it happen with a happy smile and a bounce in your step, no matter what you may really think about doing it. And so on, and so on."

Kanako leaned forward again, her angry eyes now only inches from Naru's own terrified ones. "That _is_ how you will be treating Keitaro from now on if he agrees to take you back – and even if he _doesn't_. And if you don't…_you're mine._ Nod if you fully understand what I'm telling you, Naru."

At her order, Naru's antennaed head bounced up and down at such a rate that for a minute Kanako thought that there was an off chance it might fly off and roll across the floor.

"Hmmm…? You'd _better_ understand that, all right! Well now, let's just see how ready you are for stage two, shall I? But first-"

Kanako reached down and turned Naru's frightened face upwards towards her again, an uneasy look now appearing in her own red-hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry for doing what I'm about to do to you without your explicit consent, Naru," the Goth girl then declared in a strangely contrite tone of voice, to Naru's great surprise. "I know that this is wrong. But there's something about you that I have to find out for sure. I'll understand if afterwards you can't forgive me for doing it, but this is the only way that I can be absolutely sure of the truth about just what your gender preferences really are."

"So…I'm sorry."

_Wh-what exactly did she mean by that? _Naru gulped, the sheer uncertainty of what was going to happen sending another shiver of apprehension rippling through her tightly bound body. _Oh, god! What's she going to do to me, now?_

The answer to her question wasn't long in coming.

After placing the well-used leather strap down onto the floor beside the futon, the now-empty right hand of the Goth girl slid under Naru's taut, flat stomach, then even further down between her silky-smooth thighs. Then the shivering girl abruptly gasped and her harnessed body jerked in an involuntary spasm as she felt a couple of Kanako's probing fingers slipping inside her shamefully moist front opening.

"_MMMMMM?"_

_Sh-she's feeling me up! Uhhh! Oh, s-stop! Not there…? Ahhh!_

"Well, well, Naru," Kanako couldn't help chuckling, feeling the radiated heat and slippery dampness as she moved her fingers back and forth inside the super-sexy body of her tightly bound, twitching captive. "You're even more excited at what I'm doing to you right now than I thought you would be. And if my _Oniichan_ does take you back, I can also tell that you secretly just can't wait to be broken in by him at long last, can you? Or…is it _me_ that you're so hot for, right now?"

"Mmmh?"

"Can the surprised look, Narusegawa. I've been saving this little tidbit of information up for the right time to spring it on you, and I figure that moment is right now. So I'm telling you that I know all about your shameful little secret."

"…?"

Kanako grinned at the wide-eyed look of unease that had replaced the fear in the other girl's eyes. The next words she spoke came out as more of a statement than a question.

"You're not strictly heterosexual, are you, Naru? You like both men _and_ women. That's part of the reason why you've never been able to fully commit to my brother even after all of these years, isn't it?"

"…_!"_

The Goth girl laughed, knowing that her guess as to the other girl's hidden sexual leanings had been spot-on as the shocked Naru jerked involuntarily in her bonds. "Come on, Naru, you might as well admit it to me," Kanako smugly continued. "Touching you like this just now has confirmed it to me, anyway. The cats out of the bag, so you might as well come on out of the closet!"

Naru flinched once more, and then hung her disheveled head, knowing that Kanako had somehow correctly guessed what she had long realized about herself – something that none of the other residents had even the slightest clue about, not even her best friend, Kitsune. As the uncomfortable fact that her bisexuality had now been revealed to another person sank in, Naru's cheeks glowed red with mortification. The embarrassed young woman silently cursed having her _definitely_ top secret forbidden desires being betrayed in such a revealing and undeniable fashion. Totally against her will, her traitorous body had responded totally instinctively to the unbelievably stimulating touch of the Goth girl's probing fingers on her most sensitive hidden spot.

As Kanako's fingers continued to work on their super-sensitive target, the now gasping, pleasure-wracked, totally caught out young woman finally gave up and nodded in very reluctant agreement to Kanako's astute observation. Unfortunately for the helpless, sweat dropping Naru's already shattered peace of mind, her captor's revealing words had hit the nail right on its head, gender preference-wise – on _both_ counts.

"I figured as much," the now nodding Goth girl told her humiliated, blushing captive as she finally removed her probing right hand from between Naru's shivering legs. "And here's something else for you to chew on, Narusegawa. I _also_ know all about you secretly masturbating yourself in bed at night, after _Oniichan_ has fallen asleep. And don't try to deny it! I've _seen _you do it to yourself, while you were looking with your torch at the nude girl centerfolds in those x-rated men's magazines, the ones that _Oniichan_ still has hidden under the _tatami_ mat in his room!"

"_MMM!"_

Kanako chuckled again at the expression on Naru's glowing, bright crimson face. "But don't look so put out," she smugly continued. "After all, as you have no-doubt already suspected, you're not the only one living here at the apartments who prefers playing for both teams."

The puzzled look that then appeared on the red and damp face of her mortified captive, spoke volumes of Naru's confusion about just which of the other girls Kanako was referring to.

Kanako frowned at her detainee's wide-eyed expression of bafflement as she wiped her fingers on a tissue from the open box next to her futon. "Oh, don't give me that look, Narusegawa," the Goth girl snapped out with exasperation. "You may be a psychotic bitch, but you're not brain dead with it -"

Then her eyes narrowed even more at Naru's continued blank look.

"- Or are you? _Oh, for god's sake?_ I'll give you a clue - _me,_ for instance. Surely you must have already suspected that I'm bisexual, just like you are. And, even now after I've admitted it to you, you're telling me that this still comes as a _surprise_ to you?"

A look of startled comprehension appeared in Naru's huge eyes, and she shook her tousled head, causing her twin hair antennae to sway vigorously back and forth. Now that she had had the point rammed home to her, her captor's just-admitted liking for girls as well as guys now made perfect sense. For Kanako had done this type of thing with a girl once before.

The frightened wife-once-more already knew all about what had happened between Kanako and Motoko, not long after the Goth girl had first arrived at the Hinata Apartments. Whilst trying to force the other residents to permanently move out of the apartments away from Keitaro, Kanako - disguised as Naru – had paid the unsuspecting Motoko a visit one afternoon…

_Things_ had happened between the pair – and upon arriving back at the Hinata Apartments from the tutoring job she had been doing at that time, the totally unsuspecting Naru had discovered to her shock that _she_ had been the one blamed for Kanako's erotic deeds by the mortified, well-ravished Motoko, and the equally irate other girls.

Naru realized all-too-well that she had been lucky to escape from that particular set-up by the scheming Goth girl in one piece.

"Make no mistake, I love _Oniichan_ more than all of the rest of you cretins put together, but I'm also partial to the occasional bit on the side, as Kendo girl will reluctantly testify to, if pressed hard enough," Kanako forcefully continued. "Heh! So, here's what's going to happen. Believe it or not, if you want to, you're actually going to get your repressed little secret wish to sexually experience a girl, granted, Narusegawa - _with me_."

"_Mmmmph?"_

"_That_ got your attention all right, didn't it? Yeah, you heard me correctly. Believe it or not, Naru, despite the disgraceful way you have treated my _Oniichan_, I still find myself actually…somewhat sexually attracted to you, for some bizarre reason. So, for your very first time, _I _want to be the one to break you in."

_Wh-what? Kanako hates me, but she also fancies me? _Naru realized, the shock proclamation sending goose bumps racing up her bare back. Her original intention to wait in Keitaro's room and tell him that they were still married, now entirely forgotten because of this shocking new development. _Oh, shit! But…I'm feeling strange about her now, too! I felt…hot…when she was touching me. Oh, what do I do…? Are we really going to do it with each other, right now? N-no, I can't – can I…?_

_But…I'm not with Keitaro any more, am I? I kicked him out and I'm single again – well, I'm still single until I show him this receipt that Seta gave me, anyway? Until then, Keitaro's still with Mutsumi, not me. And this is my big chance for me to experience what I've been thinking about doing with a soft and sexy girl for so, so long, now…_

Naru felt a delicious shiver race through her body at that exciting and most tempting thought._ Oh, I want to do it so much…! But – but with Kanako, of all people? She's certainly pretty, but she's also my rival. She says that she wants me, but I just – I just don't know how I'd react if she...went ahead and t-took me, like this?_

Kanako abruptly leaned forward; to jam her right forefinger into Naru's pale and confused looking face, interrupting her jumbled thoughts. "Let's just make one thing perfectly clear first, shall we?" the Goth girl growled, slightly embarrassed herself at having admitted her desire for her captive out loud to the other girl. "You can get as horny as you want to with me, Narusegawa, but don't bother getting your hopes up about being given the chance to impress my brother in bed - well not just yet, anyway. Despite it turning out that your marriage to my brother is legal after all, _dammit_, I'd still bet my bottom _yen_ that you're never, ever going to win him back from Mutsumi! But, even if by some miracle you do get him into your clutches again, before you can begin to satisfy _Oniichan's_ perfectly normal manly urges – not perverted urges, you witch, but _perfectly normal ones_ - first, you'll have to damn well learn how to satisfy _me."_

As she heard Naru's sharp intake of breath behind her gag at her order, Kanako smirked, realizing that the unwittingly turned-on Naru was now becoming so aroused with anticipation of what could soon be happening to her that she was now ripe for the taking. The moment to strike had arrived, and the Goth girl was more than ready to seize it.

"Well, then? What about it, Narusegawa? I _could_ just have my way with you, whether you liked it or not, but I'm not going to force you into doing it with me. Like I said before, I know the difference between right and wrong. And understand one other thing, the only reason I'm being harsh with you before _and_ now is because you deserve it for the way you treated my brother. I'm not an evil person, and so I'm not going to sexually abuse you against your will."

"_Mmm…?"_

Kanako's facial expression abruptly softened at the unsure and disbelieving look on Naru's face. Her right hand reached forward and she gently stroked her huge-eyed captive under her chin.

"That's why I want you to first give me permission to give you what you know that you desperately want, Naru," she stated, staring with a look of sincerety directly into Naru's anxious, hesitant eyes. "I can more than satisfy your sexual desire, _right now. _But first, you have to agree to me doing it with you."

"This is your big chance to have this particular dream of yours actually come true. And it's maybe your _only_ chance. You _know_ that you want to experience this. So, nod if you want it to be with me."

A second later, before the confused and disbelieving Naru could even realize what she was doing, her antennaed head had bobbed up and down, all by itself. For Naru's subconscious craving to at long last experience her most secret, forbidden desire of having sex with another attractive girl had instinctively overridden the very real doubts she was feeling about actually going ahead and having the intensely personal experience with her rival, the Goth girl.

"All right! And my answer is yes, too. Okay, Narusegawa, let's get this show on the road," Kanako eagerly declared, her hazel-red eyes now shining with lustful anticipation.

Even as the Goth girl talked, she stood up again and moved into a new position at Naru's left side. Reaching down, Kanako's hands slid along her still shivering captive's silky smooth thighs, buttocks and back, gently caressing each area in turn. Then they slipped forward to tenderly clasp and squeeze both of Naru's perfectly formed, pear-shaped breasts, causing the bound girl to gasp out loud again with by now barely suppressed desire. Naru anxiously squirmed in her bonds as she felt her nipples harden involuntarily under the tingling touch of Kanako's massaging fingers.

_Oh, god! What did I just agree to? Kanako, stop, stop! Please? Before I lose control of myself…Uhhh! I want it – but this feels…too intense! I just can't help what I'm feeling now - Ahh! D-don't stop-!_

"Remember, until _Oniichan_ makes up his mind whether to take you back or not, you're mine," the Goth girl continued as she momentarily released Naru's breasts and quickly began to remove her own outfit. "And now, since you've been such a quick study and all, Naru, I'm going to give you what you want, _right now."_

_Wha-? NOW? Bu-but, I'm not sure that I'm ready to go quite _that_ far with you, yet-! Huh? W-what's that sound…?_

As the highly stimulated young woman glanced with a sudden sense of apprehension back over her bare right shoulder, she discovered that her qualms were well founded. Naru's eyes widened even more and sweat flew from her forehead at the sheer size of the buzzing vibrator that had suddenly appeared in her also now totally nude captor's right hand. And it was moving down between her trembling legs, towards her-?

_Oh, shit!_

"_MMMmmmph!"_

As the copiously sweating, huge-eyed Naru writhed in sexual ecstasy under the skilful ministrations of the smugly satisfied Goth girl, Kanako felt her own stimulation level rising as she saw the positive reaction of her super-sexy captive to the device she had just inserted.

_Like I mentioned to _Oniichan_ before, there _is_ someone else I'm sort of interested in, but only if I couldn't win him for myself, and if my suspicions about this other person's real sexual orientation turned out to be true. And now, seeing Naru's positive reaction to what I'm doing to her, it looks like my 'Plan B' for finding new love really is a goer!_

Quickly the Goth girl lay down on her futon, pressing her own breasts and taut stomach tightly against the shuddering, sweat covered back and buttocks of her new lover. Then she cupped Naru's quivering right breast with her left hand to pull the other girl back even tighter against her own nude and more than ready body.

_Oh, god, Kanako,_ Naru's mind cried silently out as she felt her helpless body being manipulated into position by the strong hands of her captor. _Ahhhh!_ _Oh, yes! Don't stop! Make me happy!_

_Hell, yeah! Damn, Naru's hot body feels great,_ Kanako told herself with a momentary grin of delight as her lips moved to close upon and suck at the upper right side of Naru's neck, her busy right hand still occupied with manipulating the vibrator inside her, by now, totally turned on new devotee._ She's so soft. And willing, too, for her first time!_

_Yeah, taming Narusegawa down to complete domestic and sexual subservience is going to be most enjoyable. And, if _Oniichan _really doesn't take her back even though they're still married? Since he's now lost to me, anyway, I've decided that I'm going to make Naru my new girlfriend, instead!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

_Author's Note:_

_Next Chapter: Several surprises for several people (AND more yuri)._

_See you next week - same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Heyo, and welcome to Chapter Three._

_WARNING: More Yuri this chapter! Break out the tissues!_

_Er, I was just joking with that last bit about the tissues - yes, I'm talking to you. The reader over there with the hairy palms - oh? Aheh-heh! You're just blowing your nose...! 'Phew!'_

_Anyway, without further ado-_

-:-:-:-:-:-

**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET – THE AFTERMATH  
><strong>_**CHAPTER THREE**_

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

To Kanako's exasperation, her sexual tryst with the now _definitely_ more-than-willing Naru Narusegawa lasted all of an entire twenty seconds. Just as they both were really beginning to get into the rhythm of things with each other, their fun was brought to a screeching halt by a loud knocking coming from Kanako's door.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"_Kanako! Open up,"_ Aunt Haruka called out from the hallway side, her words voiced as an order, not a request. _"I know you're in there!"_

"_Oh, shit! Not Auntie Haruka? Not now?"_ the Goth girl hissed out, staring back over her shoulder towards the door to her room with a mixture of frustration, annoyance and apprehension on her face.

But she knew far better than to just ignore the summons from her obviously troubled older relative. Nor did the suddenly uneasy girl have any desire to see the door to her room kicked in. Reluctantly releasing Naru's right breast as she rose up off her brand new lover's shapely, warm, and still twitching butt mounds, Kanako hurried to open the luckily securely-locked door without even bothering to put any of her clothes on first.

As Kanako's door swung open, Aunt Haruka looked past her niece into the room, and took the situation in at a glance.

_Uh-huh? I figured as much_, Haruka thought, her eyes widening for a moment as she saw the nervous-looking Kanako's state of total undress, and then _really_ growing large at the sight of the bound and helpless Naru on the futon behind her.

"You kids play nice, now," she warned Kanako, leaning sideways against the doorjamb, her arms nonchalantly folded. "I had a feeling that something like this might be going on in here."

"Um, hi, Aunty Haruka," the sweat-dropping Goth girl greeted her surprise visitor, stepping back a few paces to allow her not-entirely-welcome guest to enter her room. "Wh-what can I do for you?"

"So this is what you're up to," Haruka growled, obviously not too impressed by her discovery of was going on in her niece's room. "And as to what I'm doing here right now, I ran into Seta waiting in the Tea Rooms for a tow truck when I got back from the Hospital, just before. He told me the whole story about the Registration of Marriage form he found and filed for Kei-kun, and also that he'd already told Naru about it. So, when I came back up here a few minutes ago to tell Naru that Kei-kun and Mutsumi wouldn't be back until later on this afternoon, I thought it was strange that she wasn't waiting in Kei-kun's room to tell him Seta's news. Or in her own room, or anywhere else, for that matter. And now I see why."

Haruka's frowning eyes then returned to the pleasing curves of Naru's bare buttocks, and the particular small device she could also see below them. "And take that thing out of Naru, _right now, _Kanako, until all three of us get this little situation sorted out."

"But, Auntie Haruka," Kanako began to protest. "Before you interrupted us, she was just about to-!"

"You heard what I said," Haruka told her naked niece, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she straightened up once more. She jerked her right thumb in the direction of the weakly moving young woman on the futon. "Did Naru actually _agree_ to what you're doing to her, right now, Kanako," she angrily inquired of her errant, younger relative. "If not, you're crossing the line from her well-deserved punishment, to sexual abuse. If it _is_ the latter you're up to now, then you should damn well know better. And you should _also_ know that neither I, nor Granny, will stand for those types of goings on here at the apartments, or anywhere else."

_Shit!_ Kanako thought, noticing the grim look of determination on her aunt's face. She also knew better than to try to argue the point. The Goth girl may have been an expert at Urashima-style _jujitsu_, but Aunt Haruka was a past master of not only that, but of several other martial arts styles, as well. _There goes that idea! Sorry, Narusegawa. I'll have to finish getting you off later._

Reluctantly, Kanako removed the vibrator from between her captive's twitching legs, switched it off and dropped it down onto her disheveled futon.

"There, Auntie, I've done it. Satisfied?"

"Not quite," Haruka corrected her as she strolled forward towards the futon. "Now take that ball-gag out of Naru's mouth. I want to hear what she's got to say about what's going on in here."

"Yes, Auntie Haruka," Kanako obliged, kneeling down at Naru's side and doing just that. Not that she had any choice in the matter, of course.

"And if it turns out that you really _were_ – _what the-?"_

The attractive thirty-something woman had just gotten her first glimpse of the ecstatic expression on Naru's face. The tightly bound, shivering young woman still had her eyes tightly squeezed shut. But now that her gag had been removed, the pink-cheeked girl could clearly be heard still gasping raggedly with pleasure in the afterglow of what she had just been experiencing at the Goth girl's expert hands.

"_Holy shit!_ So she was _enjoying_ it…?" the now visibly reddening Haruka stated out loud, with quite understandable astonishment. Then her incredulous gaze returned to her once again poker-faced, nude niece. "So, Kanako, Naru _agreed_ to you doing this to her, after all? Even after she found out that she's still married to Kei-kun?"

"Ah, _sorta,"_ the sweating Goth girl replied, silently breathing out a huge sigh of relief that her captive was still so turned on at the moment that she couldn't even speak. "Naru sure as hell doesn't look like she was objecting to it, does she?"

"Well, I'll be damned? In that case-? All right, Kanako. What you and Naru voluntarily do up here is your own business," Haruka conceded, rubbing at the back of her head as if she could feel a headache coming on. But then her tone changed to one of warning again as she added, "But if I hear even a single word from Naru, or anyone else, that you're forcing her against her will into having sex with you, I'm going to kick your ass out of here and back to Granny, for _her_ to deal with you. If that happens, since Seta and I are back in town, now, I'll manage the Hinata Apartments again, myself, in your place. And you'll be gone for good. _Got that?"_

"Yes, Auntie Haruka," Kanako obediently agreed, sweating again at the horrible thought of being evicted, and having to leave the apartments for good. "This is all above board, I give you my word."

"It had better be? Okay, I'm outta here. I don't want to keep you and Naru from…er, _finishing_, do I? Bye!"

"Bye, Auntie Haruka."

_Damn, I need a smoke! Why can't anyone around here ever act normally for once? Sheesh?_

Once her head shaking, slightly embarrassed aunt had departed her room, Kanako, who hadn't been embarrassed at all at being caught totally naked whilst in the midst of taking her pleasure with Naru, nonetheless let out a loud sigh of relief at the close call. Then her smug eyes returned once more to the prone, incredibly tempting, ready and waiting body of her partner-in-intimacy.

_Right, then. Where was I-?_

At that very second, Kanako came to a sudden stop as, right out of the blue, she was struck by a revelation. Without even realizing she was doing so, her keen mind had subconsciously put two-and-two together, and come up with the answer to something else about Naru that had been puzzling her for some time now. The Goth girl's eyebrows rose, her breath hissed out in another long sigh, and she nodded her head in agreement with her own reasoning.

_Of course? So _that's_ the other reason why Naru is the way she is? I should have realized this about her before! I need to talk to her about what I've deduced, right now. But if I do that, I won't be able to-?_

…_Ah, crap! Fucking her was nice while it lasted. Damn!_

Coming to the reluctant decision of work before play, the Goth girl knelt at Naru's side, and removed first the restraints from her wrists and ankles, and then the bondage harness from the body of her unclothed captive.

Now that she was finally free to move and talk again, Naru rolled slowly over on to her back, her sizeable breasts bouncing gently as she did so. Naru flinched slightly as her sore bottom touched the futon, and as her red-cheeked face stared up with a combination of surprise, nervousness and embarrassment on it at the still totally nude other girl, she then began flexing her long-tied arms and wrists to try to work the stiffness out of them.

"_Um?_ Kanako…that was Haruka in here just now, wasn't it?" Naru then hesitantly asked, shame at what she had been caught doing at the time of the ex-housemother's arrival, clearly evident in her voice. "And she saw what we were up to…?"

"Yes. Well, first she saw me like this, and then your bare ass, and she guessed at the rest," the Goth girl confirmed, smiling inside as she watched Naru's blush deepen even more at her choice of words. "But that's not important right now. So snap out of it, Narusegawa. I've got to talk to you about what _is_ important."

"Oh…? Wha-what is that, Kanako?" Naru cautiously inquired, cowering down slightly on the futon in a submissive pose, just in case this sudden change of subject meant yet more bad news for her physical welfare.

"We've already established that, without a shadow of a doubt, you're bisexual, Narusegawa. However, there's more to it than just that with you, isn't there? I also now know the second reason why you couldn't fully commit yourself to being a proper wife to my brother, in bed _and_ otherwise."

"S-second reason?" Naru weakly repeated, warily eyeing the serious-looking other girl. "I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Yes, you do. The second reason. And that is fear."

"Fear?"

"Yes. You were – and still are – afraid that if you do sleep with my brother, then you won't be able to stay with him for long because of your bisexuality. Your great fear is that one day you'll betray your wedding vows, and end up leaving _Oniichan_ for an attractive girl, because you found out too late that you prefer women more than you do men."

"No…no, that's preposterous…" Naru began to protest, head bowed with unease, her eyes hidden beneath her hair and her cheeks now bright red at having to talk about this uncomfortably personal subject. "Yes, I do…like girls, too, but I _- um?_ No, I wouldn't-!"

"Maybe you would leave _Oniichan_, maybe you wouldn't. But you _are_ afraid to take the chance of it happening," Kanako stated with finality in her voice. "I can read you like a book, Narusegawa. I concede that you may very well even love _Oniichan_, as you claim to do. But your subconscious fear of being committed to one person, even someone you genuinely love, has poisoned your relationship with him from day one. And the reason behind your problem is that, no matter how hard you try to, you can't decide whether you like men more than women, or women more than men. Am I right?"

Naru swallowed uncomfortably, her agitated mind awhirl. Then, not trusting herself to speak, she finally nodded in unwilling agreement to Kanako's unbelievably perceptive statement.

"I thought so. And that is why your marriage to _Oniichan_ turned violent, and ultimately failed. The pressure of being married to a man, even Keitaro, got too much for your doubts and insecurities about your sexuality to handle. That's why you started getting so violent towards him right after your marriage, and also the _real_ reason why you threw him out a couple of weeks ago, isn't it?"

"I…? _Yes..."_

"And now you really _are_ missing _Oniichan,_ and you desperately want him back again. Hmmm? So, what to do about it, I wonder…?"

Naru didn't reply to the open-ended question, she merely hung her head in shame at what she had done to the man she had professed to love. No, whom she _did_ love. She no longer had any doubts about that, at all.

"Okay, Naru," Kanako finally declared, staring directly into Naru's apprehensive eyes with a surprisingly mild look on her face. "I've decided that what you really need to cure yourself of your psychosis is a damn good course of psychological counseling, not my fist in your face. So – and I can't believe that I'm actually saying this – I'm going to give you a chance to get better. I want you to go and see a mental health specialist, Naru, for your sake, _Oniichan's_, and mine. Will you do this – and your answer had _better_ be _'yes!'"_

Their eyes met, and then Naru bowed her head and nodded again.

"Yes. I will," the honey brunette agreed in a chastised tone. "I know that I need help to deal with my insecurities, Kanako. I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting towards Keitaro, and for what I've done to him for so long. I was wrong, and I pray that one day he'll find it in his heart to forgive me."

Kanako breathed out another sigh of relief. "Good. If you can get yourself cured, and that damned temper of yours under control, it'll solve a hell of a lot of problems; all in one go. I'm giving you this chance to straighten yourself out, Naru, so don't blow it!"

"I'll do my best," Naru promised. "I give you my word!"

Kanako nodded with satisfaction, sure in her own mind that Naru was on the level. "All right. I'll accept that, for now. But now you'd best piss off and tell my brother when he gets back that you two are still hitched. I don't like it _at all_ that you still are, but…I won't try to stop you from telling him the truth about your situation. Not now, anyway."

"So…I'm really free to go and talk to Keitaro?" the surprised Naru warily inquired. Kanako couldn't help noticing that Naru's tone held a trace of disappointment in it, for some odd reason. But then a hopeful timbre seemingly entered her voice as she asked; "You're not going to…do anything…_else_ to me, right now, before you let me leave…?"

"Yes, you are, and no, I'm not," the unhappy Kanako confirmed, having missed Naru's hint as to what she _really_ wanted to happen, right now. "You've learnt your lesson, and you also know a lot more about yourself and the reasons that you behave in the way that you do. It's up to you, now, to sort yourself out. And, married or not, I'm damn sure that _Oniichan_ _won't_ be leaving Mutsumi to come back to you, so go talk to him before I come to my senses and change my mind about letting you do it."

Naru's face fell at the Goth girl's negative reply. But she managed a momentary smile, nonetheless, even though it didn't reach the dejected look in her eyes.

"_Oh…?_ Um-? All right, then. I'd best be off…"

_Huh? Why the heck is Narusegawa looking so miserable?_ Kanako silently wondered, only then noticing Naru's not entirely successful attempt to hide her despondent demeanor. _I'm letting her go to talk to _Oniichan_, aren't I? …Unless-? Hold on!_

_Hell! Don't tell me that Naru actually wants me to-? I'd best ask her!_

The Goth girl abruptly leant forward, her right hand grasping at Naru's bare near arm, even as the other girl reluctantly reached for her jumbled pile of clothes to get dressed once again.

"Wait. Before you go, Naru…"

"Y-yes, Kanako? What is it?" the older girl quickly asked, a little more eagerly than she had intended to.

"Auntie Haruka was right with what she told me just before. I _was_ going a little too far with what I was doing to you. I was wrong, and so, I'm…sorry, too."

"Um, _er-?_ Th-That's all right," Naru stammered, her heart beating faster again at the other girl's firm touch on the sensitive skin of her forearm, and also from being reminded of what she and Kanako had been up to with each other only a few short minutes before. "It – it really wasn't so bad-"

"I also have this to say to you. Like I said to you before, I'm not going to force you into anything strange, Naru. Instead, I'm merely going to ask you this question. If my brother turns you down – as I still think he will - would you…consider being mine, instead of his?"

"What? _Me?" _Naru gasped, her heart now thumping loudly in her suddenly constricted chest at that delectably sinful request from her former captor. "So, you…meant what you said, just then? You _do_ want me as your – as your-?"

_My heartbeat – it's racing! And I can hardly breathe! What's happening to me? Is it because I…want Kanako, too?_

_No way! That can't be true, after what she's done to me! But I'm feeling all hot and weird right now-? I don't know what to say…or to think, any more…!_

"Yes," the Goth girl confirmed, her own cheeks now reddening. "I've come to the conclusion that I could actually grow to like you, _a lot_. If you're not with my brother, that is. Well, what about it?"

_Oh, Kanako - yesss! Ahhh! I admit it – I want you now, too! I do-!_

Next second, with almost heart-stopping power, Naru's still highly stimulated body was almost overwhelmed by a powerful surge of sexual desire for her former enemy. Before she could even think about what she was doing, the suddenly wildly happy Naru abruptly leaned forward and kissed the Goth girl right on her open mouth!

_H-huh? Wh-why in the hell did I just do that,_ the bewildered young woman thought as she pulled back from the impulsive act, blushing furiously at the boldness of what she had just done. _But the way Kanako made me feel just before when she was – doing me? I - I can't help myself! I…want to experience it again with her! Right now!_

"Huh? Well, that was unexpected," the taken-aback Kanako amiably remarked, her eyebrows rising with well-founded surprise at the other girl's totally unanticipated action. "But, I take it that's a _'yes' _to you becoming my girlfriend, if my brother still doesn't want you even after seeing that damn Registration of Marriage receipt, that is?"

The excited though embarrassed Naru nodded in affirmation, shyly looking down at the floor as she did so. "Yes, I – I guess so?" she softly murmured. "I – I still love Keitaro, but I also – _um_…?"

_So she does want me, after all? Heh! Kick her to the curb again, _Oniichan,_ and then we'll both be set,_ the impassive Kanako silently whooped, fighting hard to restrain her almost irresistible urge to grin like an idiot at that bit of good news. _If you really _must_ have Turtle Idiot, then I'll take Naru off your hands, for good!_

"Um…Kanako?" the bashful Naru then asked her in a shy tone.

"What is it, Naru?"

"Look, if you want to, you can…_um_…you can c-continue with me, like we were doing before," Naru whispered timidly in answer, her face flushed, her anxious eyes still staring awkwardly down at the polished floor. "I…didn't quite, _um_…f-finish, if you know what I mean?"

"What? In other words, you're saying that you want me to keep humping you until you come-?" the incredulous Kanako bluntly stated, her eyes wide open with an even greater sense of disbelief after hearing _that_, of all things, from her former rival_._

"Um? Yes," the red-faced young women breathed back, fidgeting nervously on the futon, her eyes flickering every which way but at her companion. "I want it._ Please_…?"

_Well, I'll be damned;_ the astonished Goth girl gasped silently to herself, staring with rapidly building desire once again at her also now totally turned on, ex-enemy. _Narusegawa's just full of surprises today! But, hell yeah! Back to the good stuff!_

Without another word, the more-than-willing Kanako slid forward to Naru's side, and took her former foe into her strong arms. She quickly pushed the other girl backwards down onto the futon again, and then lowered herself down on top of her eager new lover, breast-to-breast, her hips now pressed tightly between Naru's open legs. Naru shuddered and let out a loud gasp as she felt the Goth girl's hungry lips close tightly around her plump left nipple, then she threw her antennaed head back in ecstasy as Kanako began to have her way with her once again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi, and welcome to Chapter Four._

_This chapter, prepare for - developments._

_And now, on with the show!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET – THE AFTERMATH  
><strong>_**CHAPTER FOUR**_

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

In the secure confines of Room 204, the slim, twin-antennaed figure of a very attractive honey brunette sat despondently beside the wooden table in the center of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, lost deep in somber thought. For once, Naru Narusegawa didn't have a clue as to what she should do for the best.

Before Kanako had captured her, and then had her way with her, Naru had been absolutely sure of what she wanted to do, now that she had irrefutable proof that her marriage wasn't invalid, after all. All she had to do was to wait here in the landlord's room until Keitaro had come back from the hospital, with or without Turtle-slut Mutsumi in tow. Then, on his arrival back in his room, her desired course of action had been so very clear to her.

Firstly, she would have shown Keitaro the official receipt that Seta had given her from his lodgment of their Registration of Marriage form, and informed him that they actually _were,_ in fact, legally married. Then, if the turtle lady had been present at the time, Naru would have demanded that Mutsumi leave the room so that she could have some privacy with her once-again husband. Once that husband-stealing traitor had been evicted from their presence, she would have sat down with the no-doubt shocked Keitaro, and then tried to work things out with him so that they could be a happily married couple, once again.

And she would have done her very, very best to ensure that her new and happy life with her husband-once-more would have lasted for good, this time around.

Of course, once she was safely back with Keitaro, Mutsumi would have had to go. Completely out of their lives, and preferably out of Hinata Hot Springs, altogether. That was going to be Naru's bottom line demand to him. She could forgive everything else Keitaro had done, except for that. As for her false friend, Mutsumi, she had betrayed her solemn trust. And she certainly didn't want the turtle lady hanging around them any more, to remind her husband of his indiscretion, and to maybe even lure him away from her for a second time.

At least, that _had_ been her plan…

But, now-?

Now that she was alone in Keitaro's room, Naru was only too aware of how warm and satisfied she had felt, wrapped up in the strong arms of the Goth girl after they had finished making love…

For the first time in her life, she had felt completely fulfilled…body _and_ mind.

Reflecting back, Naru realized that she had never, ever felt that fulfilled with Keitaro before. But then again, she had never, ever had sex with her long-suffering boyfriend-then-husband, either.

_No, I never did, did I?_ The melancholic young woman moodily told herself. _In all the years that I've known him…not even once…_

…_That being the case, how do I know that Keitaro won't make me feel that way, too, if and when we finally do it?_

_But, now that I've had my first ever experience with Kanako…I just…don't know what to do anymore…_

_Ah, shoot!_

_Kanako…?_

-:-:-:-:-:-

Meanwhile, the now much more cheery pair of Keitaro Urashima and Mutsumi Otohime were at that very moment riding on a trolley bus heading on its usual route back from town towards the bus stop outside the Hinata Tea Rooms. The smiling turtle lady had taken a seat near the exit, Keitaro, for obvious reasons, much preferred to remain on his feet. He was standing in the aisle next to her, his right hand grasping one of the safety straps that hung from the ceiling of their ancient conveyance.

As they traveled along the asphalt road towards their destination, Keitaro glanced down with a nervous look on his face, yet again, at the smiling figure of the turtle girl on the seat beside him. He had something very important and life changing on his mind that he wanted to ask her. But at the same time, he was far from sure that right now on the bus was the best time to bring it up.

"Oh, what the hell? _'Nothing ventured, nothing gained,'_ I guess," the young landlord then mumbled to himself, having at long last made up his mind on what best to do. "I'm pretty sure that Mutsumi will say 'yes' to me, right now, anyway, so I'll just go for it!"

"Huh? What was that, Kei-kun," Mutsumi then asked him, looking up at her lover with a puzzled look in her soft brown eyes. "Did you say something to me?"

Keitaro blushed at her words and slapped his left hand to his sweating forehead, as his right one was still occupied with holding the ceiling-mounted safety strap.

_Crap! Did I just say that out loud? Oh, never mind! Just do it!_

"_Um,_ Mutsumi?"

"Yes, Kei-kun?"

"Look, I've got something really important that I want to ask you. _Er_, and I want to do it right now. So – _um_ – give me a moment to get ready, and into the proper position…"

Mutsumi's eyes were huge with surprise and anticipation as Keitaro released the strap and took her right hand in both of his. Then, wincing slightly from the pain in his sore backside, Keitaro managed to go down onto one knee on the metal floor of the trolley bus.

As she realized what Keitaro's actions must mean, Mutsumi's free hand flew to her mouth in shock. "K-Kei-kun? _Oh my goodness," _she cried out with astonishment and delight. "Are – are you going to-?"

"Yes," Keitaro replied, looking directly up into her wide eyes with a look of love and sincerety in his own._ "'Ahem!'_ Mutsumi Otohime, I love you, and I want you to be my wife. So, _um_, will - will you…like to become engaged to marry me?"

As his out-of-the-blue proposal registered in her mind, Mutsumi's face lit up with an expression of overwhelming joy at yet another of her lifelong dreams now about to be realized.

"Oh, Kei-Kun! _Yes," _She gasped out, both of her hands now clutching tightly together over his own_. "Yes, oh, yes, I will!"_

"_Oh, yeah!"_ the ecstatic Tokyo U graduate yelled out, jumping back to his feet again in triumph, his quite understandable action drawing started looks from the few other passengers on board the trolley bus at that time. The laughing, crying Mutsumi immediately flew into his arms, and they spun each other wildly about in the center of the aisle, before collapsing back down together in a laughing heap onto the side seat, once again.

"_Hnnnk!"_ Keitaro gritted out, flinching with pain as his sensitive right buttock impacted with the far-from-soft seat. "_Oh, that smarts…!_ But I don't care! Not now that I have you, Mutsumi!"

Mutsumi's expression of delight immediately turned to one of loving concern. _"Oh, Kei-kun! Your poor bottom!"_ she wailed.

"Forget that, I'll live," he assured her as they hugged tightly again, reveling in the warmth and comfort of each other's bodies. "I'm far too happy right now to waste my precious time with you being distracted by pain."

As they lay happily back on the backrest of their seat, still in each other's arms, a curious look appeared on Mutsumi's beaming face as she asked Keitaro a question.

"So, Kei-kun? What made you decide to propose to me right now on the bus? Not that I'm unhappy about you doing so, of course," she hastened to add. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I have been praying that you would ask me this, ever since I've known you!"

"Ah-heh-heh! _Thanks_." Keitaro scratched at the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "Well, about the proposal, I was going to pop the question to you, anyway, Mutsumi, only at a more suitable time. Like after a dinner date, or something like that."

"_Fu, fu, fu._ That would have been nice, too, Kei-kun. So…why right now?" Mutsumi giggled.

"Well, after nearly dying from that hornet sting earlier on today, I got to thinking," he answered. "I realized that there's no time like the present. Who knows what may happen tomorrow, or the next day, or even in the next few minutes? Now, you and I are here, together on this bus, right now. I love you, and I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. So I took my opportunity to ask you to be mine while I could, just in case something else unforeseen is going to happen soon and I never get the chance to do so again."

"_Oh, my?_ That is smart thinking, Kei-kun! And I'm so very glad that you did!"

"Me, too," Keitaro grinned back. "I was a little worried about what you'd say – me asking you on a bus, and all. Thank you for loving me enough to say 'yes'."

"I would have said 'yes' to you, even if you'd asked me in a mud puddle at the Hinata dump, Kei-kun," the turtle lady declared, lovingly resting her twin-antennaed head down onto his near shoulder. "I love you, and I always will. _Always."_

"I love you, too, Mutsumi. With all of my heart."

They then kissed in a rather passionate manner for a public place, drawing several more surprised, and in some cases, jealous, glances their way from their fellow travellers. Afterwards, Mutsumi leaned back onto Keitaro's shoulder again with a very contented sigh of complete bliss.

"Say, Kei-kun? Would all of our friends be back at the apartments by now, do you think?" she then asked him in a thoughtful tone.

"Um, I guess so, Mutsumi? Ema's due back from her high school any time now, I think? And no one else had any classes at all today, if I remember correctly. Why do you ask?"

"Well, now's as good a time as any to tell everyone about us getting engaged, Kei-kun," the happy turtle lady pointed out to him. "We're almost back at the Hinata Apartments now, so we could call everyone into the common room for a special meeting tonight. Right after I've finished my shift at the tea rooms, if you like?"

"Yeah, actually that's not a bad idea, Mutsumi," the twenty-seven year old landlord thoughtfully agreed as he stood up again. He then held out his right hand to help Mutsumi rise to her feet as well, in preparation for their imminent disembarkment from the old, electric powered vehicle. "But I think that having the meeting straight after dinner, not just before it, would be the best time to break the good news to them. What do you think of that idea, then?"

"All right. That sounds fine to me, Kei-kun." The smiling Mutsumi then eagerly gripped his right hand even tighter, and began to pull him towards the doorway to the trolley bus as it clanged to a halt at the bus stop outside the Hinata Tea Rooms. "_Fu, fu, fu! _Come on, let's go! First, we'll go and tell Mrs. Haruka and Kitsune at the Tea Rooms about the meeting, and then you can tell the others up at the apartments! But promise me that you won't say a word to them, or anyone else, about our engagement until the meeting tonight. We'll surprise them with it, okay?"

Keitaro laughed again at her request. "Sounds good to me," he agreed, as Mutsumi towed him down the steps of the bus and out onto the pavement. "Whoa, slow down! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

As he and Mutsumi ran across the pedestrian crossing, and then across the sidewalk and up the steps towards the front entrance to the Hinata Tea Rooms, Keitaro felt a stab of anxiety in his heart as he recalled a possible pair of flies-in-the-ointment to his and Mutsumi's plans for later on tonight.

_I really don't know how Naru is going to take our news that I'm now engaged to Mutsumi, though. Or Kanako, for that matter! My sister did tell me she's accepted that Mutsumi and I are now together, but has she really, truly done that? Things could get real hot at our meeting, tonight, if either or both of them decide to object to our engagement!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

On the subject of Naru, just then, in the landlord's room on the second floor of the Hinata Apartments…

_Brriiiing! Briiiing!  
><em>

The still-depressed Naru jumped involuntarily as the sudden, jarring sound of Keitaro's phone ringing, gatecrashed her melancholy thoughts, snapping her back to the here-and-now.

_Oh? Who could that be, I wonder? God, I hope it's not Mutsumi! But…I guess I'd best answer it, just in case it's Keitaro calling for me. Maybe he heard from someone that I'm looking for him?_

'_Gulp!'_

Gritting her teeth, the anxious Naru picked up the corded handset from its base, and spoke nervously into the microphone.

"_Um_, hello. This is the Hinata Apartments, Naru Narusegawa speaking."

"_Naru, hi. This is Shinobu, down in reception. I have a phone call for you from the Hinata City Municipal Office. Are you all right to take it up there?"_

"The Hinata City Municipal Office? Yeah, sure," the surprised young woman agreed, a puzzled frown appearing on her forehead. "I got it. Thanks, Shinobu. Bye."

_Why would the government office be calling me now?_ Naru silently wondered, as Shinobu transferred the call up to her phone in Keitaro's room. _This must be about our marriage form Seta lodged for us. Maybe they're calling to remind us to pick up our _'Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Marriage'_, or something?_

"Hello, this is Naru Narusegawa – I mean, _'Urashima'_, sorry - speaking... Yes, I'm she. Sorry, Keitaro Urashima isn't here at the moment. Yes, I'm free to talk to you right now…"

"Okay, wait a moment, I'll just get a pen so I can write all of this down…got it! Okay, what was the message, please-?"

"Uh-huh...uh-huh…_what? What do you mean that our Registration of Marriage form is invalid? It was returned by the due date, wasn't it?"_

"_Oh? _I – I see? _Oh, shit!_ Whoops, sorry! I'm so sorry, that just slipped out-!"

"…Yes, yes, I see…? But can't I just go in and sign it, right now? _Please?_ Surely you can accept that since it's already been lodged-?"

"_Oh, god!_ So you're telling me that there's no way…?"

"We'd have to do the whole thing all over again for it to be valid? _The paperwork and the whole marriage ceremony? Ohmygod!_ But - but that's not…?"

"_But-?"_

"_Oh…?_ All right. I understand. _Dammit-all!_ Thank you for phoning to tell us. Yes, yes, I'll be fine. Thank you. Bye…!"

_Click!_

Naru hung up the receiver of the phone on Keitaro's desk, then clenched her fists and brandished them in frustration high above her head.

"_Oh, shit!"_ she cried out in disbelief, clutching at her hair. _"I just can't believe that I could have been so stupid? I forgot to sign my own god-damned marriage form at our wedding!"_

THUMP!

"_Naru! What was that I just heard?"_

Naru jumped with shock as the Goth girl landed right next to her, having dropped down through the open hole in the ceiling from her own room.

"_Yikes -_ Kanako! You were listening in-?"

"Yeah," the Goth girl breathlessly replied from Naru's side, her eyes wide open with astonishment, and something else, as well. "The hole in the ceiling was open, so I heard every word. So…that phone call was to inform you that you and _Oniichan_ _aren't_ married, after all?" She seized the front of Naru's top with both hands, and demanded, "Tell me everything, Naru! _Now!"_

"Um, yes. You see, it's like this," Naru explained in a timid tone, her eyes flickering towards the floor. "I've just found out that Seta, being the Marriage Celebrant at our wedding, was supposed to sign our Registration of Marriage form after the ceremony, along with Keitaro and I. Well, he - _ah-heh-heh_ – he forgot to do so at the time, as – _um_ – did I…"

_Flop!_

"_He what? And you forgot to do it, too? You forgot to sign your own _Kon-in-Todoke _wedding form?"_ Kanako yelled from the floor, her eyes huge with total disbelief after face-faulting at the idiocy now being admitted to her by the red-faced and fidgety young woman she was confronting. She climbed back to her feet again, and pointed an accusatory finger at Naru's mortified face. _"Are you on crack?"_

"No! And, well, I _was_ going to sign the form, right after our wedding ceremony had finished," the sweating Naru explained in a defensive tone. "But, when the ceremony was over, with everyone crowding around to congratulate us, and all, I…didn't find time to do it, right then. Keitaro did remind me about it before we left in Seta's van on our honeymoon, but then he stepped on my wedding dress, and…oh, you know the rest. After that, well, I was so mad at him, I clean forgot all about doing it…!"

"And then you both lost the _Kon-in-Todoke _form, so it never got signed by you, at all. And now, even though it was accidentally postdated by an entire damn month by some idiot clerk at the government office when they issued it to you, it really _is_ past that later expiry date now, too, isn't it?" the astounded Kanako finished for her, still unable to quite believe what she had heard from the older girl – or in her own incredible stroke of good luck that such an implausible thing could have indeed happened.

_If Naru and _Oniichan_ still really _aren't_ married, after all, then that means-?_

"Er, yes," the totally embarrassed Naru confessed, twiddling self-consciously with her index fingers as she stared shame-faced at the floor. "The last valid day for our Registration of Marriage form was last Saturday, on the day when Seta dropped it off for us at the municipal government office in Hinata City."

"Which means, even if you and Seta go to the municipal office right now, today, and you both sign the form, it's still too late," the Goth girl excitedly pressed her. "It won't make a bit of difference to the end result, will it…?"

"That's right," Naru unhappily admitted. "And so it's a waste of time me going to the municipal office, at all. There's no way they'll give me my 'Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Marriage', now, is there? Whether I like it or not, my marriage to Keitaro was never, ever valid, even after what Seta did for us…"

_So, I really still am 'Narusegawa', not 'Urashima', after all…_

The ecstatic Kanako pumped her fist in gleeful triumph. _Yesss! There is a god, after all! _Oniichan_ is safe again! And also-?_

Then the Goth girl sprang into action. Without warning, she scooped the startled Naru Narusegawa up in her arms, and in a continuation of the move, leapt directly upwards through the open hole in the ceiling, landing lightly on her feet back in her own room.

_Wow!_ Naru thought, clinging tightly to the lithe Goth girl, a huge bead of perspiration on her forehead. _That was unexpected…!_

"Kanako? Wh-what's going on? Why did you just grab me and-?"

"What's going on, you ask?" Kanako smirked. "I'll tell you. Since you and _Oniichan_ now really _are_ through for good, that means you and I are free to go out with each other, right? Just like we previously discussed up here in my room, earlier on today."

"Well – _um_ – y-yes, I guess so," Naru conceded, more than a little taken aback by this sudden change of topic. But then the startled look on her face changed back to one of despondency, and her gaze dropped to the floor as she thought back once more on what she had now irrevocably lost.

"I've lost him, Kanako, so I've got nothing to lose by dating you, now, have I? Because of my own stupidity, my wedding to Keitaro was nothing but a sham," she forlornly murmured. "And after what I did to poor Keitaro when we split up, there's…no way in hell he's going to take me back, now – or ever. Especially now that he's with Mutsumi. So…I've got no choice but to give up on him. I never thought that it would ever come to this, but…but it's really over between Keitaro and I…for good."

"I'm glad you've finally accepted that, Narusegawa," Kanako said, a sober look on her pale face, and more than satisfied inside at the repentant look on Naru's own one. "Now, back to us. I want to know if we're together, as a couple, as of right now?"

"'_Gulp!'_ _Um_ – oh-okay. Why not…?"

"Then it's settled. You are, as of this moment, now officially mine, Naru. Agreed?"

"…Yes."

"Good! That being so, we should tell the others about us at the dorm meeting _Oniichan _wants to have with us all, after dinner tonight. Auntie Haruka phoned me a few minutes before you got your phone call to inform me about it."

"Tell them about us? _What, already?"_ the shocked Naru squawked, tensing with anxiety even more in Kanako's strong arms. "_Um_, I don't know about that? I mean, we've only just gotten together, and it's so sudden, and-_mmmmmm?"_

Twenty seconds later, the for-once smiling Goth girl removed her mouth from Naru's own, and stared directly into the flushed face of her brand new girlfriend.

"So, what about it?" she prompted the gasping, trembling, older girl. "There's no use wasting time and beating around the bush with this. You're either my girlfriend, or you're not. If you are, we're going to have to tell other people about us. What's it going to be?"

"I – I'm in," Naru breathlessly answered, her heart thumping with excitement and anticipation in her curvaceous chest after feeling the soft lips of the Goth girl moving against her own, in the forceful but passionate way that she had been dreaming about all afternoon. "We'll…tell them. Tonight."

As her eager lips met those of the Goth girl again, Naru's mind filled with jumbled thoughts and a profound sense of regret, mixed with a newfound hope for the future.

_Oh, Kanako… I may not have Keitaro any more, but at least I've now got you. I may have screwed up one relationship, but I'm damned if I'm going to do it to my brand new one with you, as well!_

_I never thought that I'd ever think this about you, of all people, Kanako, but you're all that I've got left, now…_

_And I'm so sorry, Keitaro, for everything I've done to hurt you for so many years. And now, because of my own stupidity, our short life together as man and wife is over._

_But, after all that's happened to us over the last month, I see now that…we were never meant to be, were we? I'm sure now that you were always meant to be with Mutsumi, and not me. And, as for just who I'm truly destined to be with…well, I still don't know that, yet, do I? But, hopefully, being with Kanako will help me - at long last - work that out._

_Goodbye, my old love. Hello to – hopefully - my new one._

_Kanako._

-:-:-:-:-:-

_Author's Note:_

_All righty! One more chapter to go - where ALL will be revealed._

_Can you feel the anticipation?_


	5. Chapter 5

_Heyo! Here it is - the fifth and final chapter._

_ALL will be revealed!_

-:-:-:-:-:-

**LOVE HINA: FLIGHT OF THE HORNET – THE AFTERMATH  
><strong>_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

About a quarter of an hour after Naru had nervously agreed to become Kanako's girlfriend, downstairs in the spacious reception hall of the Hinata Apartments, not much of note was going on at present. Only one of the residents was currently in the room, that person being one slightly bored-looking Shinobu Maehara, whom was half-heartedly engaged in poking at spots of largely imaginary dust with a feather duster behind the reception counter. Having volunteered to watch reception for an hour, as a favor to Kanako, by now, Shinobu was beginning to wonder why the Goth girl was taking so long in returning to her post. However, her afternoon suddenly got a whole lot more interesting as the left-side front door opened, and a very familiar sounding, masculine voice called out a cheery greeting across the lobby to her.

"Hey, Shinobu, I'm back!"

"Oh, hi, Sempai," the beautiful, late-teenage bluenette replied, instantly perking up at the sight of her long-term crush. Placing the duster back on the shelf under the reception desk, she eagerly moved from behind it to meet him, an anxious inquiry on her lips. "So how are you feeling, now? You _are_ all right to come home this early from the hospital, aren't you?"

Keitaro let out a sheepish laugh at the expression on the face of the nineteen-year-old cook as she hurried across the spotless lobby floor towards him. "Ah, yes, Shinobu. I'm going to be just fine," he happily replied, straightening up from putting on his indoor slippers. "The doctor gave me a shot or two of Epinephrine, whatever that is? It'll completely cure the delayed allergic reaction I had to the hornet sting venom, in no time at all. So there's no need for you to worry about the sting causing me any more problems from now on."

"That's great!" Shinobu enthused, giving him a quick hug of relief the moment she reached him. Stepping back a pace, the bluenette then looked over her landlord's shoulder towards the entrance, a quizzical look in her eyes. "Hey, where's Mutsumi," she then inquired. "Didn't she come home with you, for some reason?"

"Oh, Mutsumi went straight to the Tea Rooms, as soon as we got off the bus," Keitaro explained. "Aunt Haruka came back from the hospital earlier than we did, and she was covering Mutsumi's shift for her until we got back."

"Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten that she had to work this afternoon. But, Sempai, if I'd known about you having that sudden allergic reaction at the time it happened, I would've gone to the hospital with you and Mutsumi and Haruka, too. I was really worried about you when I found out about it from Su!"

"Thank you. I appreciate your concern. But, as you can see, I'm going to be just fine, now. So…_ah?_ Where is everybody else, right now, Shinobu?"

"Well, no-one has any classes at Tokyo U, today, remember?" She reminded him. "So, we're all here somewhere – except for Ema, I think? But she should be back soon from her high school. As to what I'm doing down here in reception, Kanako asked me to cover for her for an hour or so. She told me earlier on that she had something important to do this afternoon, but she should be back downstairs at any time, now."

"Hmmm? All right. Hey, Shinobu, if you'd like to take a break, or go and do something else right now, I don't mind staying here and watching reception for you until Kanako gets back. I'm finding it a little painful to sit down at the moment, so I think that I'll just go over there and lean on the counter for awhile."

Shinobu let out a delighted chuckle. "Let me guess? They gave you an injection or two, right, Sempai? In the butt?"

"_Urm_. Yeah. You got it," Keitaro ruefully informed her, eyes closed behind his glasses, and rubbing absent-mindedly at the back of his head in the old familiar way that he always did at moments like this. "As if the hornet sting wasn't painful enough?"

"_He, he!_ Anyway, thanks for the offer, Sempai. And I'll take you up on it, but only if I can stay here with you for awhile, and we can have a little chat about a few things that have been on my mind?"

"Oh? Okay, that's cool. Let's just go back behind the counter, first, shall we," the Tokyo U graduate suggested. "I've been on my feet for awhile, now, and I'm feeling the urge to lean on something solid to take the weight off my feet."

"_Deal,"_ Shinobu happily agreed. To Keitaro's surprise, she then playfully slipped under his left armpit and straightened upwards to take his weight on her right shoulder, her right arm encircling his waist as a brace. "You can lean on _me_ for awhile, if you're _that_ tired, Sempai? Hee, hee!"

"Er? Ah – _um_ – okay, I guess," the startled Keitaro stammered, still unable to quite get his head around just how bold and forward the once shy girl under his arm had become, over the last five or six years.

_Whoa! And just look at her figure and her hair, _Keitaro just then couldn't help thinking. _Shinobu certainly has changed since I first met her. Geez! Was that really nearly eight years ago, now? It seems like it was only last year when I first arrived here, looking for a place to stay._

Keitaro and Shinobu then made their awkward way across the lobby and behind the reception counter. After reaching their destination, Shinobu somewhat reluctantly released him again, and Keitaro gratefully slumped down with a loud sigh of contentment, forearms first, onto the hard surface of the counter top.

"Ahh! Rest at last! The stairway up to the apartments doesn't get any shorter or less steep as you get older, does it?"

"No," Shinobu chuckled in agreement to his observation. "Maybe that's a good thing, though? I have a theory that having to go up and down those steep steps, several times every day, is part of the reason that us girls living up here are always in such good physical shape?"

"_Heh, heh!_ Yeah, probably? Now that you mention it, you all do have figures to die for," Keitaro agreed. "I can't believe just how good you look, Shinobu, and if I was a single man, I'd definitely want to try my – _oh?"_

An apologetic look quickly appeared on Keitaro's face as he abruptly realized what he had been about to admit out loud.

"_Ah-heh-heh? _Er, I shouldn't be saying things like that to you just now, should I? I'm with Mutsumi, now, and…um-? I'm sorry."

"Oh, no, it's all right, Sempai," the secretly delighted Shinobu hastened to reassure him. "Thank you for the compliment. I know that you didn't mean anything improper by it."

_Sempai has noticed how good I look, after all! Only – it's come a month too late for me to take advantage of it. Darn it, life. You can be so cruel!_

Shinobu kept silent for a moment or two longer, before speaking up again.

"Um, Sempai? There _is_ one thing that's been bothering me for a couple of weeks, now. And since it concerns something that you did, I'd like your honest answer on why you did it, please?"

"It concerns me? Ah - okay, then. What's on your mind, Shinobu?"

"Well, when Naru first threw you out, you were gone from the Hinata Apartments for over a week, Sempai. Why exactly didn't you contact any of us, to let us know that you were okay," the bluenette asked him in a firm tone, hurt in her eyes as she stared upwards into his own. "I was worried sick that you had been killed, or severely injured, or even had left us for good! And I wasn't the only one here feeling that way, either."

_So that's what Shinobu's talking about, _Keitaro realized, mentally slapping himself upside his head for his poor choice of actions, prior to his return. _Yeah, I did do that, didn't I? I did let Aunt Haruka know that I was all right, but I still kept my whereabouts a secret from everybody else. Just in case Naru got wind of it, and found out where I was, and whom I was with, out of one of them…especially Shinobu. I'd best explain to her, right now, just why I felt the need to keep her and the others in the dark about my true situation._

"Yes, I know. And I'm not proud of my behavior, then, either," the ex-_ronin_ contritely conceded. "But at the time I had good reason to keep my location a secret, Shinobu. I honestly didn't like having to play it that way, but I was worried that if I got word to you about where I was staying during that week, Naru might have gotten wind of it, and tried to pry my whereabouts out of you…"

As Keitaro's explanation trailed off into an uncomfortable silence, Shinobu stood up straight and fixed him with a stern eye.

"From what you just said a moment ago, I _know_ you've noticed that I'm not the shy, timid little girl that I used to be when you first arrived here at the Hinata Apartments, Sempai," she reproached him. "And I haven't been for some time now." Shinobu then leaned forward, hands on her shapely hips, her now sizeable breasts thrust forward in what normally would have been a most distracting manner. "Do you _really_ still think that I couldn't have handled the news that you were with Mutsumi in a mature, grown up manner? And kept that and your whereabouts from Naru, as well?"

Keitaro sighed, realizing that he had badly underestimated the fortitude of the late-teen girl. "You're right, Shinobu," he admitted, regret in his voice. "I'm sorry. It was cruel of me to not get word to you that I was okay. And I'd also like you to know that I'd trust you with my secrets and my life, anytime. Okay?"

"Hmm. All right, Sempai. Thank you for saying that. And I know that you didn't intentionally mean to cause us all worry. But if you're ever in a situation like that again, please promise me right now that you'll confide in me about it, as soon as you can. Your faith in me keeping your secrets _won't_ be misplaced, I assure you."

"I promise I will. Really, I do!"

"Good. Thank you, Sempai," the bluenette replied in a mollified tone; shuffling her feet slightly at what she was just about to admit next to her old flame. "And – _ah_ – there is one other thing…"

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm all right about you and Mutsumi dating each other, as well," Shinobu told her young landlord, still looking him directly in the eyes, even though her cheeks were now tinged a light shade of pink. "Even though I wish it had been me that you had chosen as your new girlfriend, even I have to admit that Mutsumi is perfect for you. So, best wishes to you both, Sempai. And I mean that, too."

"Thanks, Shinobu. That means a lot to me," Keitaro replied in a gentle tone, his voice regretful. "I've known for a long time that you do unconditionally love me. And you've no idea just how much I truly appreciate that. I also know that I've hurt your feelings, and that you must still be feeling bad about everything. Especially now that I'm with Mutsumi, and not you-"

To Keitaro's surprise, Shinobu let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, don't worry about me, Sempai. I've – _um?_ Well, let's just say that a friend and I have gotten much closer together, since we both found out about you and Mutsumi. And I'm positive that we're going to be very happy together, too. So, even though I can't be with you in the way that I wanted to be, I think that I'm going to be just fine from now on."

"_Really?_ Wow, that's great news, Shinobu!" the ex-ronin exclaimed, the sudden expression of surprise on his face causing the bluenette to involuntarily giggle out loud again. "So, just who is it that you're dating, anyway, if you don't mind me asking? Do I know him?"

"Er? _Hee, hee!_ Well, yes, but-? I'm not going to tell you that, just yet, Sempai," Shinobu said, her cheeks reddening a shade or two more at just _who_ her new partner was. "The person and I will let you and the others know about the two of us in good time, once we are sure that it's going to work out between us."

"Fair enough," Keitaro conceded with a smile, taking a step forward and giving her an affectionate hug. "Congratulations, Shinobu. And I hope the two of you will be very happy together."

"'_Sniff.'_ Thank you so much, Sempai," Shinobu sniffled, an involuntary tear of happiness in the corner of each eye as she warmly embraced her good-hearted landlord, in return. "And the same back to you, for you and Mutsumi. I want us _all_ to be happy."

"I'm sure that we all will be, now," Keitaro declared as they hugged each other tight. "And I think that we all deserve to be happy at long last, after everything that we've all gone though together over the last eight years."

"Thank you _so much_ for everything you've done for me, and the others, since you first arrived here," the Tokyo University sophomore whispered, her tears of joy now flowing freely. "You've helped us all out far more than you'll ever know."

_I'm a so much better person now, thanks to Keitaro. It was largely thanks to him that I developed enough self-belief to actually pass the entrance exam and make it into Tokyo University in the first place. And, with Sempai still in my life, and my new relationship with Su, I'm also sure that I'm going to become an even better person in the future!_

"Oh, by the way, Shinobu, before I forget, I'm planning on calling a meeting with all of the residents after dinner, in the common room, at seven-thirty," Keitaro then informed her, his original intention to notify her and the others of this, just now popping into his mind. "If you see any of the other girls between now and dinnertime, could you please let them know about it for me?"

"Sure, Sempai. I'll do that," Shinobu responded, a look of curiosity appearing on her beautiful face. "So, what exactly is this meeting going to be all about?"

"Mutsumi and I have an announcement to make," he cryptically told her. "I can't tell you any more than that, just at this moment, sorry. Oh, yeah, one more thing. When I called in at the Tea Rooms just before with Mutsumi, Aunt Haruka mentioned to me that Naru wanted to have a word with me. But she didn't say what about. You wouldn't happen to know where Naru is at the moment, do you?"

"Oh? No, not offhand," Shinobu admitted. "Try her room, Sempai, and if she's not there, maybe she's waiting for you in your one?" The bluenette hesitated for a moment, and then reluctantly added, "Maybe you should go and see Naru, right now, Sempai? It could be something important that she needs to talk to you about?"

"Ah, yeah? Okay, maybe you're right, Shinobu. You don't mind me just taking off like this, after me promising to stay here with you for a while? I _could_ talk to Naru later, you know?"

Shinobu actually _did_ mind him leaving so soon, but she laughed and answered in the negative, all the same.

"No, I'll be fine, Sempai. I'll be seeing you again a little later on at dinner, anyway. Go and talk to Naru, right now, while you've got the chance."

"_Er_, all right," Keitaro agreed, a smile now on his lips. "I'm glad that we had this little talk of our own, to clear the air about what happened before. I'm also glad that you aren't still mad at me for what I did."

"I'm fine about it, now," Shinobu assured him, giving him a warm smile of her own. "Especially since I now know for sure that you'll trust me with your secrets, if there _is_ a next time."

"Actually, I'm hoping that there _won't_ be a next time," the young landlord wryly declared. "This once was quite enough, thank you! But on the off chance there is, yes, I will. I promise. Okay, _um_, I'll see you later, then?"

"Yes! Bye, Sempai."

"Bye!"

-:-:-:-:-:-

A couple of minutes after this, up in Kanako's third floor room, the spontaneous, latest love-tryst of one Naru Narusegawa and one Kanako Urashima was suddenly interrupted, mid-kiss, by a rapping on the door to the landlord's room on the floor below them.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"_Um, Naru? Are you in there? Aunt Haruka told me that there's something important that you wanted to talk to me about."_

"_Oh, heck, it's Keitaro,"_ Naru gasped out, breaking her lip-lock with the Goth girl, to stare with alarm back down through the hole in Kanako's floor into the landlord's room below her. "He's here to talk to me, right now!"

"_Hold on, Keitaro!"_ the sweating Naru then hollered down toward the door. _"Don't come in, just yet! I'm – um – well, just give me a minute, will you?"_

"_Ah, sure, Naru. Take your time,"_ came Keitaro's reassuring answer.

"Oh, god, Kanako, what do I say to him, now that he's not my husband, again, after all?" Naru frantically inquired of the Goth girl, both still intertwined in each other's arms. "I don't know what to do!"

"Go and talk to him right now, Naru, just like you were planning on doing," Kanako urged her, thinking fast. "You'll have to do it sooner or later, won't you? But, bear in mind that _Oniichan_ doesn't need to know about anything that's happened today with regards to your Registration of Marriage form – especially after what you've just found out about it from the municipal office. As far as he's concerned, it'd be best if this whole fucked-up business with Seta and your seemingly valid, and now invalid again, marriage form never even happened. While you're talking to him, I'll phone Auntie Haruka and Seta from my room, tell them that the form's not legal again, and ask them to keep quiet about it, as well. There's no sense in stirring things up unnecessarily, now, is there?"

"I…no, you're right about that last bit, Kanako," Naru conceded. "But, since I'm not married to Keitaro, after all, I've nothing to tell him now, anyway. Maybe I should just-?"

"Yes, there is, Naru," Kanako firmly corrected her. "You can tell him, _and_ Mutsumi, that you forgive them both for getting together. And, for once in your life, come clean and admit that it was _you_ at fault for what happened. You, after all, were the one who made your wedding invalid by not signing _or_ filing the marriage form when you had the chance to make it legal and binding. And you were _also_ responsible for driving _Oniichan_ away from you, and into the waiting arms of Turtle Idiot. Am I correct?"

"…Yes. It _is_ my entire fault, Kanako. I realize that now." Naru dropped her gaze to the floor. "And…I have something else that I want to confess to you, right now, as well."

"Oh? And that is-?"

"Well, I'm feeling ashamed about the way that I've been treating Mutsumi over all of this, too," Naru murmured in reply, her face sad and eyes still downcast as she made her admission. "You're right, it's not Mutsumi's fault that Keitaro went to her for comfort after I lost it and punched him out of here, it's mine. She's the innocent party here, and just look at the cruel way that I've been treating her…? I'm so sorry-!"

"Don't tell _me_ that, go tell her and _Oniichan,_" the frowning Kanako retorted, gently cuffing Naru on the top of her head with her right hand. "I'm sure they'll both forgive you, if you do say sorry to them for how you've been acting. As will I."

"I…I will. _Right now_. Thank you, Kanako!"

"_Go."_

And that was just what the most-repentant Naru Narusegawa then did.

-:-:-:-:-:-

After dinner had been finished, and all of the dishes were done and put away, at the appointed hour of seven-thirty pm that night, Keitaro and Mutsumi sat hand-in-hand on a comfortable couch in the second floor common room. Both were now in a very happy mood, especially since they had made up with the very apologetic Naru, earlier on before dinner.

After talking to her ex, Naru had then made a special trip down to the Hinata Tea Rooms to apologize to the surprised, and after she had heard Naru out, very happy Mutsumi. Not only had the contrite and tearful young woman given a full and unreserved apology for the way she had been acting, and what she had done, but also she had then given her full blessing to Mutsumi's relationship with Keitaro. The upshot of this outpouring of honesty and regretfulness was that all three long-term former best buddies were once again friends.

Nor were Keitaro and Mutsumi alone in the spacious common room at this time. Every single one of the other residents was seated in there, as well, along with Haruka, Seta and Sarah, who were standing off in a little group to the side, watching the proceedings with interest. The trio was currently focused on one bizarre sight, in particular…

…A sight that had grabbed _everyone's_ attention right away, and held it.

And the exact same thought was in everyone's minds, as well…

_Um? Why, exactly, is Naru wearing that leather collar, and kneeling at Kanako's side, instead of sitting on the couch next to her? And…is that a leash in Kanako's hand, attached to the collar…?_

Mutsumi was just as interested in as any of the others in that far more than merely unusual sight, but she had bigger fish to fry at this moment in time. A gentle nudge from her served to attract Keitaro's attention away from his younger sister and his ex, back to his new girlfriend and the important topic at hand.

"Ah-? Well, thank you all for taking time to attend, tonight," Keitaro managed to get out, turning his full attention back to the other residents. "I'm sorry that this meeting was at such short notice, though. I hope that we didn't drag any of you away from anything important that you were planning on doing at this time?"

"Naw, she's sweet, Kei," Kitsune answered for everyone else present, lounging back against the cushions on her couch, a beer in one hand, and an anticipatory look on her face. "Mah movie isn't on T.V. for another half-hour, yet. So, what's this all about?"

"'_Ahem!'_ Well, Mutsumi and I have gathered you all here, tonight, because we have something very important to announce."

"_Um_, and after you've done that, Sempai, actually, so have we," Shinobu then nervously spoke up from her own seat, Su squeezing her hand in a show of support at her side. "Su and I, I mean."

"_Well, well?_ In that case, us, too," Kitsune stated with a knowing grin, from her position next to the uneasy-looking Motoko. "No time like the present, eh, Motoko?"

"_Er_…if…if you say so, Kitsune?" Motoko mumbled back, looking as if she would rather be anywhere else than here, at this particular moment in time.

"As have Naru and I," Kanako declared with amusement, resting her left hand on the twin-antennaed head of her companion, her soft touch causing the already ill-at-ease Naru to blush crimson and avert her gaze, so her eyes could avoid having to meet the puzzled scrutiny of the other girls. Having taken into account what she had previously witnessed happening between Kitsune and Motoko last weekend, the shrewd Goth girl had already correctly guessed what was coming next from everybody. _Good_. That meant all systems were still 'go' for her and Naru to reveal their relationship to the others, as well.

After the startled crowd of girls had finished darting surprised and speculative glances amongst each other, all eyes then turned towards Ema Maeda. The fifteen-year-old, noticing that she was now the center of attention, jumped in her seat, her face a mixture of confusion and apprehension at being subjected to such close scrutiny from the other residents.

"_What? What?"_ she squawked out, both eyes huge behind her rectangular glasses, not at all sure, yet, as to just what was going on, and showing it. "I don't have anything to say!"

"Well, that makes _one_ of us," Kitsune laughed. "Calm down, Sweetie." Her mirth-filled, half-open eyes then turned to the standing trio of Seta, Haruka and Sarah.

"Seta? Haruka? What about you," she prompted them, her grin widening. "Any dirty lil' secrets you wanna get off your chests?"

"Don't look at us," Haruka coolly replied. "We're just here for the show."

"What Haruka just said," Seta agreed. "You kids go for it!"

_Uh-oh?_ Sarah thought, knowing that something strange was _definitely_ up. An uneasy look appeared on her face as her worried eyes flickered back and forth from face-to-face, firstly taking careful note of just who was seated with who, and then picking up the tell-tale signs of nervousness and anticipation being displayed between the girls in each pairing. And then, in her mind, the light bulb came on.

_Oh, crap!_ _Don't tell me…?_

Kitsune's amused voice then broke into her anxious thoughts, jolting the now sixteen-year-old blonde back to reality.

"Sarah? Anything to declare, Sugah?"

"_Huh? Me?_"_ _she yelped, a look of shock and indignation transforming her face. _"_ Leave me out of this, you guys! I'm normal!"

"Heh! If ya say so, Sweetie," Kit smugly stated, having appointed herself ringmaster of the circus that was about to get underway. Her mischievous gaze then returned to her seated friends. "All righty, then! On with the show. Who's first with the good news?"

Another round of furtive staring amongst the circle of friends followed, until Keitaro and Mutsumi finally stood up together, hand in hand.

"We called you all here, tonight, so I guess that we should go first," he stated. "_'Ahem!'_ Okay, just listen to this, you guys. On the way back to the apartments from the hospital this afternoon, I asked Mutsumi if she-"

And so it all came out.

Firstly, the news of Keitaro and Mutsumi's engagement was met with a chorus of surprise and approval from all-and-sundry, even Naru and Kanako. Their support may indeed have been a little forced, but both young women knew when to bow to the inevitable. Both also knew all-too-well that they had lost him for good. Now that Keitaro had finally hooked up with Mutsumi, there was no way that he was going to leave her for anyone else. Even a blind man could see that they were made for each other.

Once the hubbub and round of handshakes and congratulations had died down, it was the other residents' turn to surprise their compatriots. And surprise them, they did.

Next up, Kitsune stood up and loudly announced to the excited circle of residents that she and Motoko had been dating since last Saturday night. To say that the silence was deafening after her pronouncement would have been the understatement of the year. Then, to the already embarrassed Motoko's red-faced chagrin, the Fox girl added out loud - and quite unnecessarily, from Motoko's point of view - that she and the Kendo girl had already got it on several more times with each other, since then!

'BLUSH!'

_"Kitsuuunee!"_

_"Bwahahahaha!_ Well, it's true, ain't it, Motoko?" Kitsune laughed back to her, totally ignoring the huge-eyed, open-mouthed looks that her friends were now giving them both. "Don't be shy, now, gal. After all, ya did tell me before, just how much you enjoyed doin' it with me, didn't ya-?"

_"Shhh!"_ Motoko's steaming tomato-red face hissed back to her, flapping frantically with her hands in an effort to shut her big-mouthed lover up. "Don't say things like that about us in public, please?"

"Oh, _very well_. _Hehe!_ Ah'm sorry, Sugah. 'Kay, who's next?"

_"Urm?_ Well – _um_ – that would be me, I guess…?"

Shinobu stood up from her seat and told her now sweat-dropping and even more dumbfounded audience, in a rather more nervous voice than Kit's had been, that she and Su were _also_ now partners, as of last weekend, as well. Then, to her own total embarrassment, the startled bluenette promptly received not only a joyful hug, but also a very public and rather prolonged kiss directly on her lips from the overjoyed Kaolla, as her reward for speaking up. Consequently, Shinobu's face was as red as Naru and Motoko's now were, when she hurriedly sat down again with the totally unashamed Molmol girl still clinging to her like a blanket.

And lastly, Kanako rose to her feet and smugly declared to the, by now, totally-flabbergasted crowd of family and friends that she also had a brand new girlfriend – one now brightly-blushing Naru Narusegawa, once bitter rival, now repentant lover.

Once everybody had retrieved their lower jaws from the floor, and were in a position to speak coherently once more, the delighted Mutsumi Otohime was the first one up on her feet again.

"_Oh my goodness,"_ she exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together in joyful approval at all she had just heard. "Everyone else here has found true love, as well as us! Isn't that great, Kei-kun?"

"Ah, yeah? _Um_, yeah, it is," the gob-smacked, huge-eyed landlord stuttered, trying hard to take everything he had just heard in, and failing badly. _"Ah-heh-heh?_ What in the heck has been going on here in the apartments behind my back for the last few weeks? I had no idea about any of this! I…guess that congratulations are in order, all around?"

_So that's what Shinobu meant when she told me yesterday that she had found love with another person? It was with Su. And Kitsune's with Motoko, and Naru – with Kanako? This has to be some sort of a perverted waking dream that I'm having right now? But I…guess that's what happens when a bunch of girls all live together for so long, with no guys around to date…?_

_Come to think of it, when _was_ the last time I saw any of them with a guy that wasn't either me, Seta, Shirai or Haitani? Never! And hardly ever with the last three names on that list, to boot!_

Even the no-less astounded Noriyasu Seta and Aunt Haruka managed to give everybody their best wishes, even if their sweat-dropping faces were a little red at the open and honest confessions of clandestine intimacy that they had just heard from their now paired off friends and relatives.

The shocked-looking Sarah McDougal, however, wasn't nearly so calm as her elders about what had been secretly going on amongst the other residents. Truth to tell, she was hopping mad about it.

"_What?_ So you weirdoes have all been secretly doing each other behind everyone else's backs?" she hollered out, jumping to her feet with an accusatory look on her flushed face. _"Ooo – yuck!_ Aren't there any good-looking guys apart from the dork around here for you to date, instead of each other?"

"Actually, Sarah, there's not," Su spoke up, with a loud chuckle of merriment at her American friend's angst. "Kei-Baby's ruined us all for any other guys! _Nyahahaha!_ So, aren't you just a _little_ bit happy that we've all found someone else for us to love, Sarah?"

"Well, I am, I guess," the uncomfortable-looking, sixteen-year-old blonde reluctantly conceded. _"But-? But-?"_

"Well?" Kitsune laughed, before any more could be said. "This is one for the books. Ah'll be damned if Ah can truly believe it, just yet, but it sure looks to me with the way things are goin' right now, everyone here's gonna live happily ever after, after all?"

"I'm not happy!" Sarah yelled. "Unlike you guys, I don't have anyone to be happy with! It's not fair!"

_How do you think I feel,_ the dumbfounded, sweat-dropping Ema Maeda gasped silently under her breath, watching the fist-shaking blonde teen as the foreign girl chewed everyone out. _I'm the only other one here still single, too! Damn! I need bigger tits! And I've got to try harder. Ah? Ah-heh, heh…? With _guys_, I mean – not with other girls! _

"Well, everyone but Sarah, that is," Kitsune corrected herself. "Oh, yeah, and what about you, Ema? How do you feel about all of us happy new couples, eh?"

'BLUSH!'

"_M-me?_ How do _I_ feel-? Er, _um – um_, j-just fine, thank you," the bespectacled teen stammered. _"Um,_ congratulations everybody, on finding, _er_…t-true love…!"

"Well spoken, Sweetie. Hey, Ah just had a thought? Since you and Sarah are the only two unattached people left here, why don't the two of you get together, and-?"

"_What? As if?"_ Sarah squawked, crimsoning like a tomato at the thought of kissing another girl. "I'm not a weirdo like_ you, Fox Floozy! _Just because I don't have a boyfriend, _doesn't_ mean that I wanna-!"

"_No way!"_ the just as embarrassed Ema loudly gasped out at the same second, her already red face deepening an extra tone. "I may be single, but I'm not even the _slightest_ bit interested in dating a-!"

"Simmer down, you two," Haruka interjected. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion, not a shouting match."

"Listen to your mother, Sarah," Seta added, still smiling. "And there's no hurry for you to find a special someone, just yet. You've got plenty of time to find a nice boy or girl for you to date, when you get a little older."

"Sorry, Papa, Mrs. Haruka," Sarah contritely apologized, momentarily glancing up at them both before glaring back at Kitsune again. Then her widening eyes abruptly whipped back up to her substitute father's face again, as the second part of his last statement finally registered in her mind.

"_Hey!_ What do you mean, _'or girl for you, when you get older?'_ I'm old enough to date, _right now_, and I just told you all that I don't wanna date girls-!"

"_Bwahahahaha!"_

"_And shut it, Fox Freak, you slanty-eyed bimbo! I don't!"_

_Huh? So Ema's not dating anyone at her school?_ The offended blonde teen then thought, her angry eyes involuntarily flickering for a second from the uproariously laughing Kit Fox towards the other girl. _I suppose… I could hang out with her a bit more, just to see what she's really like? Maybe…?_

_What?_ _Sarah doesn't have a boyfriend, after all?_ The mortified Ema couldn't help thinking as she peered uncomfortably out from between her fingers towards the blonde foreign girl. _Woww…! Ma-maybe I should…get to know her a little better…? Socially, not – um? Yeah, just…socially… _

"_Heh, heh, heh!_ Well, it was just a thought," Kitsune snickered, not failing to notice that the two seemingly outraged teens were now surreptitiously eyeing each other up, as the attention of their amused audience turned from both bright-red girls, back to each other. Quick, speculative looks between Sarah and Ema were now alternating with the irritated and discomforted expressions on their matching pair of embarrassed faces – and that could mean only one thing, couldn't it?

_Hee, hee! Who knows, _the troublemaking Fox girl smugly thought to herself. _Maybe that wasn't such a dumb idea as Sarah and Ema first thought it was? They could sure do worse than each other – and Ah'm sure if they spend enough quality time in each other's company, they'll work that out for themselves!_

_Well, anyways, enough charm from me. It's time to celebrate, Ah think?_

Kitsune stood up and raised her voice again over the excited din from the others. "'Kay, everybody, listen up! And now to celebrate everyone's good fortune, Ah have only one more word to say to ya'll. _Par-taaay!"_

"_Yaaay!"_ Kaolla cried out in agreement, leaping to her feet as well. "I'll break out the PS3, you get in the grog! And make it a double!"

And that was just what they all did.

For the next two days and nights, non-stop.

And just for once, _school be damned_. Even Tokyo University.

"Furthermore, a gay old time is being had by _all_ of the new couples! _Heheh!"_

_"Shuddup! There is not!"_ Sarah yelled with red-faced outrage at the intruding camcorder. Jumping up from the couch she was just then sharing with Ema, the blonde heaved an artifact directly towards the grinning Kit Fox, who was narrating behind the camera. "_I'm not like that, dammit!"_

_Oh, shit-!_ Kitsune thinks, attempting, far too late, to duck.

CRUNCH!

_"Tweet!" _Selfsame Fox girl unconsciously utters, as the solid, stone mask ricochets off her forehead.

(In Kitsune's head, insert flashing red stars superimposed on spinning room, as camcorder recording winks out to black).

-:-:-:-:-:-

**THE END**

-:-:-:-:-:-

_Author's Note__:__ Yes, Kitsune's fine, thank you. The bandages come off her head next week._

_Phew! I've finally finished this three-story series. I hope that you all have enjoyed the rather R-rated shenanigans of the Hinata crew over the last eleven combined chapters?_

_I may, at some stage, write a story or two more based on this storyline. If and when I can find time to do it._

_As always, all reviews are most welcome._


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